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Early Life Socioeconomic Differences in Associations between Childhood Sleep and Academic Performance

Gianna Rea-Sandin1, Reagan S Breitenstein1,2, Leah D Doane1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America.

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
|March 7, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Socioeconomic status (SES) influences how sleep impacts children's academic performance. While most effects were similar across SES levels, some specific sleep issues affected low-SES children negatively and high-SES children differently.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Sleep Science
  • Educational Psychology

Background:

  • Poor sleep is linked to diminished academic performance in children.
  • The moderating role of socioeconomic status (SES) on the sleep-academic relationship is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the associations between sleep characteristics (duration, midpoint, problems) and academic performance in children.
  • To examine whether early-life and concurrent socioeconomic status (SES) moderates these associations.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 707 children, assessing SES at 12 months and SES, sleep (actigraphy, parent-report), and academics at 8 years.
  • Analysis of actigraphy-based sleep duration and midpoint, parent-reported sleep problems, and objective/subjective academic measures.
  • Examination of interactions between SES and sleep variables on academic outcomes.

Main Results:

  • No significant main effects of sleep on academic performance were found.
  • Increased sleep problems were associated with lower performance in low-SES children but higher performance in high-SES children.
  • For high-SES children, more sleep problems and longer sleep duration predicted lower academic achievement.

Conclusions:

  • Socioeconomic status (SES) plays a complex role in the relationship between sleep and academic outcomes.
  • While some sleep-academic associations varied by SES, most relationships were consistent across different socioeconomic levels.
  • Findings highlight the intricate interplay between sleep, academic achievement, and socioeconomic factors in child development.

Keywords:
academic performanceactigraphychildrenmiddle childhoodsleepsocioeconomic status

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