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Self-Reported Sleep and Executive Function in Early Primary School Children

Yulu Chen1,2, Yiji Wang3, Si Wang4

  • 1Department of Psychology, Teachers' College, Beijing Union University, Beijing, China.

Frontiers in Psychology
|January 6, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Children's sleep disturbance is linked to executive functions. Specifically, inhibitory control and working memory show direct associations with sleep quality in children, while cognitive flexibility’s link is indirect.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Sleep Science

Background:

  • Executive function (EF) is crucial for cognitive development in children.
  • Sleep disturbance can impact cognitive abilities, including EF.
  • Understanding the specific links between sleep and EF components is important for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the associations between children's self-reported sleep disturbance and multidimensional executive function.
  • To examine the unique contributions of inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory to sleep quality.

Main Methods:

  • 204 typically developing children (7-9 years old) participated.
  • Children completed the Sleep Self-Report questionnaire.
  • EF components were assessed using the Red-Blue Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and Backward Digit Span Test.

Main Results:

  • All three EF components (inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory) were significantly correlated with sleep disturbance.
  • Cognitive flexibility's association with sleep was not significant when controlling for inhibitory control and working memory.
  • Inhibitory control and working memory remained significantly related to sleep disturbance after controlling for other EF components.

Conclusions:

  • Children's sleep disturbance is directly associated with inhibitory control and working memory.
  • The relationship between sleep disturbance and cognitive flexibility appears to be indirect, mediated by other executive functions.

Keywords:
Sleep Self-Reportcognitive developmentcognitive flexibilityexecutive functionhabitual sleepinhibitory controlsleep disturbanceworking memory

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