Associations Between Diaper Need and Child Sleep in Under-resourced Families

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Sleep Science
• Socioeconomic Factors in Health

Background:

• Healthy sleep is crucial for child development and well-being.
• Poverty-associated factors can create significant barriers to achieving adequate sleep in children.
• Material hardship is a key indicator of socioeconomic challenges faced by families.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between insufficient diaper supply, a marker of material hardship, and child sleep outcomes.
• To quantify the impact of diaper need on sleep duration, disruption, and parental perception of sleep quality.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 129 parents of very young children.
• Utilized an online material hardship assessment and the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire-Revised.
• Employed multiple linear regression to analyze the relationship between diaper need and sleep parameters, controlling for covariates.

Main Results:

• Diaper need was significantly associated with shorter and more disrupted sleep periods (β = -11.95, p < 0.001).
• Higher diaper need correlated with lower total sleep scores (β = -6.49, p = 0.004).
• Parents experiencing high diaper need reported poorer perceived sleep quality for their children (β = -7.28, p = 0.017).

Conclusions:

• Inadequate diaper supply adversely impacts children's sleep patterns and quality.
• Findings highlight the need for interventions to alleviate material hardship for improved pediatric sleep.
• Further research should explore screening and resource connection strategies to enhance sleep in vulnerable children.