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Measuring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation During Naps in Early Childhood
Published on: October 2, 2019
Sleep across early childhood: implications for internalizing and externalizing problems, socioemotional skills, and
Caroline P Hoyniak1, John E Bates2, Maureen E McQuillan2
1Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Insights
Early childhood sleep patterns, specifically variability and timing, are linked to preschool adjustment. Objective sleep measures in toddlers predict internalizing problems and academic skills in later childhood.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Child Psychiatry
Background:
- Sleep is crucial for child development, yet research often uses subjective measures.
- Previous studies on sleep and development lack longitudinal, objective data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental associations between objectively measured early childhood sleep and functioning at preschool.
- To examine sleep's role in behavioral adjustment, socioemotional skills, and academic/cognitive abilities.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 119 children from 30 to 54 months, with actigraphy for sleep measurement.
- Correlational analyses and growth curve modeling to assess sleep-adjustment links.
- Focus on preschool functioning, including internalizing/externalizing problems and cognitive skills.
Main Results:
- Sleep variability in toddlers was associated with increased internalizing problems in preschool.
- Later sleep timing in toddlers correlated with poorer cognitive and academic skills at 54 months.
- Changes in sleep patterns from toddlerhood to preschool age did not predict adjustment.
Conclusions:
- Objective measures of sleep variability and late sleep timing in early childhood are significant predictors of preschool functioning.
- These findings highlight the importance of consistent and timely sleep for healthy child development.
- Early sleep characteristics influence later behavioral and cognitive outcomes, underscoring the need for targeted interventions.
Background:
Sleep is thought to be important for behavioral and cognitive development. However, much of the prior research on sleep's role in behavioral/cognitive development has relied upon self-report measures and cross-sectional designs.
Methods:
The current study examined how early childhood sleep, measured actigraphically, was developmentally associated with child functioning at 54 months. Emphasis was on functioning at preschool, a crucial setting for the emergence of psychopathology. Participants included 119 children assessed longitudinally at 30, 36, 42, and 54 months. We examined correlations between child sleep and adjustment across three domains: behavioral adjustment (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems), socioemotional skills, and academic/cognitive abilities. We further probed consistent associations with growth curve modeling.
Results:
Internalizing problems were associated with sleep variability, and cognitive and academic abilities were associated with sleep timing. Growth curve analysis suggested that children with more variable sleep at 30 months had higher teacher-reported internalizing problems in preschool and that children with later sleep timing at 30 months had poorer cognitive and academic skills at 54 months. However, changes in sleep from 30 to 54 months were not associated with any of the domains of adjustment.
Conclusions:
Findings indicate that objectively measured sleep variability and late sleep timing in toddlerhood are associated with higher levels of internalizing problems and poorer academic/cognitive abilities in preschool.
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