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Longitudinal changes in sleep patterns and circadian rhythm metrics in preschool-age children from Northern Mexico

Rachel Bleiweiss-Sande1, Adam P Spira2, Jiawei Bai3

  • 1Department of Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Sleep Health
|August 21, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Preschoolers showed improved sleep patterns over one year, with earlier wake times and more robust circadian rhythms. Co-sleeping was linked to sleep disturbances in this study of young children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Chronobiology
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Sleep and circadian rhythms are crucial for healthy development in preschool-aged children.
  • Longitudinal data on sleep patterns and circadian metrics in this age group, particularly from under-researched populations, are limited.
  • Actigraphy offers an objective method for assessing sleep and circadian parameters in children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To longitudinally assess changes in sleep parameters and circadian rhythm metrics using actigraphy in preschool-aged children over one year.
  • To identify factors influencing sleep and circadian rhythm changes in early childhood.
  • To provide evidence on sleep health in a specific sociodemographic group.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study design over one year.
  • Ninety-four preschool-aged children (mean age 4.2 years) participated.
  • Actigraphy was used for one week at baseline and follow-up, complemented by parent-reported sleep diaries.

Main Results:

  • Children exhibited significantly earlier waketimes and increased circadian rhythm robustness (higher relative amplitude, earlier midline estimating statistic of rhythm, and shorter least active 5-hour period).
  • Trends towards shorter sleep onset latency and longer nighttime sleep were observed but not statistically significant at the alpha < 0.05 level.
  • Co-sleeping was identified as a predictor of sleep disturbances, with adjusted analyses showing fewer nighttime awakenings.

Conclusions:

  • Preschool children demonstrate significant improvements in circadian rhythm robustness and earlier wake times over one year.
  • Decreased overall activity levels accompanied these sleep and circadian changes.
  • Findings highlight the importance of sleep health during early development and suggest co-sleeping may impact sleep quality.
Abstract

Keywords:
ActigraphyCircadian timingEarly childhoodLongitudinalRest-activity patternsSleep patterns

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