Diversity in pediatric behavioral sleep intervention studies
Amy J Schwichtenberg1, Emily A Abel1, Elizabeth Keys2
1Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University, USA.
Insights
Most studies on behavioral sleep interventions for children lack diversity. Future research must include diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds for broader applicability.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Behavioral Science
- Health Disparities Research
Background:
- Behavioral sleep interventions for young children often show efficacy.
- Generalizability of these interventions to diverse populations is understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity in published behavioral sleep intervention studies for young children.
- To identify gaps in representation within this research area.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search using PRISMA guidelines.
- Analysis of 32 studies involving 5474 children.
- Coding for participant race/ethnicity, parental education, and country of origin.
Main Results:
- Information on race/ethnicity was available for only 60% of studies.
- Participants were predominantly White and from White-majority countries.
- Parental education data, an indicator of socioeconomic status, was reported in 66% of studies, often showing moderate to high attainment.
Conclusions:
- Current behavioral sleep intervention research for children lacks sufficient racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity.
- There is a critical need to include a wider range of families in pediatric sleep intervention studies.
- Future research should prioritize diverse samples to ensure interventions are effective and applicable across different backgrounds.
Abstract:
Studies designed to assess the efficacy of behavioral sleep interventions for infants and young children often report sleep improvements, but the generalization to children and families of diverse backgrounds is rarely assessed. The present study describes a systematic review of the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of behavioral sleep intervention studies for young children. Thirty-two behavioral sleep intervention studies (5474 children) were identified using PRISMA guidelines. Each study was coded for racial and ethnic composition, parental educational attainment (an index of socioeconomic resources), and country of origin. Racial or ethnic information was obtained for 19 studies (60%). Study participants were primarily White and from predominantly White countries. Overall, 21 (66%) of the included studies provided information on parental education. Most of these studies had samples with moderate to high educational attainment. Behavioral sleep intervention studies to date include samples with insufficient diversity. Overall, this study highlights a critical gap in pediatric sleep intervention research and supports a call to further include families from diverse backgrounds when assessing behavioral sleep interventions.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:15REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
RBD is significantly associated with...
01:13Insufficient Sleep and Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is a more severe form of sleep loss...
01:03Nursing Interventions I: Taxonomy of Nursing Interventions
A nursing intervention is a treatment or action based on scientific concepts and knowledge from the nursing, behavioral, and physical sciences. Identifying and prioritizing nursing interventions based on the desired outcome...
01:29Nursing Interventions II: Selecting and Classifying the Nursing Interventions
01:22Stages of Sleep
Before sleep begins, in wakefulness, the brain exhibits primarily beta waves, which are high in frequency and low in amplitude, indicating alertness...
01:30Diversity of Archaea I