Caregiver Perceived Stress and Child Sleep Health: An Item-Level Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Sleep Medicine
• Child Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Sleep problems affect up to 50% of U.S. children and adolescents.
• Existing research on caregiver stress and child sleep is limited to younger populations.
• The association between caregiver stress and sleep in older children needs further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between caregiver perceived stress and sleep disturbance in school-aged children and adolescents.
• To investigate if child age moderates this relationship.
• To determine if a child's mental or physical health condition moderates this relationship.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional caregiver-reported surveys from the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program.
• Item response theory (IRT) and meta-analysis were applied.
• Data included caregivers of children aged 8–16 years from four ECHO cohorts.

Main Results:

• Increased caregiver perceived stress was independently associated with greater child sleep disturbance.
• The presence of a child mental or physical health condition was also independently associated with greater sleep disturbance.
• Child age and health conditions were analyzed for moderation effects.

Conclusions:

• Caregiver stress is a significant factor in pediatric sleep disturbance, extending to older children.
• Interventions should consider the family context, including parental stress and child's health status.
• Addressing both parental stress and children's health is vital for improving sleep health outcomes.