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Published on: October 2, 2019
Variations in longitudinal sleep duration trajectories from infancy to early childhood
Elaine K H Tham1, Hai-Yan Xu2, Xiuju Fu2
1Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore.
Insights
Asian children show varied sleep patterns from infancy to childhood. Consistent sleep trajectories are more typical than variable ones, highlighting differences from Caucasian samples.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Sleep Medicine
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Understanding sleep development in children is crucial for healthy growth.
- Previous research has primarily focused on Western populations, leaving a gap in knowledge for Asian children.
- Identifying distinct sleep trajectories can inform targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate variations in night, day, and total sleep trajectories in Asian children.
- To identify different patterns and variability in sleep duration and consistency.
- To compare sleep trajectories in Singaporean children with those reported in Caucasian samples.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a novel conditional probabilistic trajectory model for longitudinal data analysis.
- Analyzed caregiver-reported sleep duration data from 901 children in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes cohort.
- Collected data at multiple time points from 3 to 54 months of age.
Main Results:
- Identified 3 night sleep patterns (long consistent, moderate consistent, short variable) and 4 day sleep patterns (long variable, long consistent, moderate consistent, short consistent).
- Found 4 total sleep patterns (long variable, long consistent, moderate consistent, short variable), with significant duration differences.
- Consistent sleep trajectories were more representative of typical developmental patterns than variable ones.
Conclusions:
- This is the first study to describe multiple sleep trajectories and between-individual variability in Singaporean children.
- Night and total sleep trajectories were generally shorter, while day sleep trajectories were longer compared to Caucasian samples.
- Further research is needed to explore the link between these sleep variations and developmental outcomes.
Objective:
This study investigates variations in night, day, and total sleep trajectories across infancy and childhood in Asian children.
Participants:
Participants consisted of a subset of 901 children, within the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes cohort, which recruited 1247 pregnant women between June 2009 and September 2010.
Design:
We used a novel conditional probabilistic trajectory model: a probabilistic model for mixture distribution, allowing different trajectory curves and model variances among groups to cluster longitudinal observations. Longitudinal sleep duration data for the trajectory analyses were collected from caregiver-reported questionnaires at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 54 months.
Results:
We found 3 patterns of night sleep trajectories (n = 356): long consistent (31%), moderate consistent (41%), and short variable (28%); and 4 patterns of day sleep trajectories (n = 347): long variable (21%), long consistent (20%), moderate consistent (34%), and short consistent (25%). We also identified 4 patterns of total sleep trajectories (n = 345): long variable (19%), long consistent (26%), moderate consistent (28%), and short variable (27%). Short, moderate, and long trajectories differed significantly in duration. Children with consistent trajectories also displayed sleep patterns that were significantly more representative of typical developmental sleep patterns than children with variable trajectories.
Conclusions:
This is the first study to describe multiple sleep trajectories in Singaporean children and identify between-individual variability within the trajectory groups. Compared to predominantly Caucasian samples, night/total sleep trajectories were generally shorter, while day sleep trajectories were longer. Future studies should investigate how these variations are linked to different developmental outcomes.
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