Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 27, 2025
Author Spotlight: Unveiling the Connection Between Sleep Disorders and Cognitive Symptoms in Depression
Published on: April 26, 2024
Methods used to assess sleep in children who attend community-based mental health programmes: A systematic review
A Priftis1, M Cruickshank2,3, S M S Smith1,4
1School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Insights
Assessing sleep in pediatric mental health programs is crucial. This review found limited research on sleep assessment methods, highlighting a need for more studies to understand sleep
Area of Science:
- Pediatric mental health
- Sleep science
- Clinical research methodology
Background:
- Sleep quality and duration are vital for children's well-being.
- A potential link exists between mental health disorders and sleep disturbances in children.
- Effective sleep assessment is needed in community-based pediatric mental health settings.
Approach:
- A systematic review was performed to identify sleep assessment methods in pediatric community mental health programs.
- Searches were conducted across multiple databases (Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, ProQuest, APA PsycInfo, PubMed) from January 2021 to March 2022.
- Six studies met the inclusion criteria for analysis.
Key Points:
- A variety of validated and non-validated sleep instruments were utilized.
- Sleep questionnaires were primarily completed by parents or guardians.
- The number of studies on sleep assessment in this setting appears limited, indicating a potential research gap.
Conclusions:
- Further research is necessary to determine optimal sleep screening methods in pediatric community mental health.
- Understanding sleep's impact on recovery for children and adolescents with mental health disorders is critical.
- Standardized and effective sleep assessment tools are needed for this population.
Abstract:
Sleep quality and sleep duration are important for children's physical and mental health. Mental health diagnoses and sleep disturbances may be interlinked. We sought to identify the methods used to assess sleep in paediatric community-based mental health programmes. A systematic review was conducted using an a priori protocol to ascertain the sleep assessment methods used in paediatric community-based mental health programmes. Children for this review were defined as any person under the age of 19. Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, ProQuest, APA PsycInfo, and PubMed databases were searched from January 2021 to March 2022. Of the 320 records screened, 314 records were excluded. Six studies were included for analysis. A variety of validated and non-validated sleep instruments were used to measure sleep quality and a range of sleep disturbances in community health programmes for children. There were a limited number of studies associated with sleep assessment in paediatric community-based settings suggesting this is an area of research that may be understudied. Sleep questionnaires were predominately completed by parents or guardians. Further research is required to establish the most effective method for screening sleep behaviour in paediatric community mental health programmes to understand the impact of sleep in the recovery of children and adolescents with mental health disorders.
