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Updated: Jun 13, 2025
Measuring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation During Naps in Early Childhood
Published on: October 2, 2019
Intrafamilial associations of sleep multitrajectory groups between ages of 3 and 60 months in the SEPAGES cohort
Mihyeon Kim1, Sarah Lyon-Caen2, Sam Bayat3
1Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Inserm, INRAE, Center for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Paris, France.
Insights
Maternal sleep patterns significantly influence child sleep trajectories, with mothers in "Global" sleep problem groups more likely to have children in the same category. Early interventions targeting maternal sleep may improve child sleep.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Sleep science
- Family studies
Background:
- Understanding intrafamilial sleep dynamics is crucial for child development.
- Parental sleep patterns can influence infant and child sleep behavior.
- Previous research has identified distinct parental sleep trajectories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify distinct sleep multitrajectory groups in children from 3 to 60 months of age.
- To examine the association between children's sleep trajectories and their parents' sleep trajectories.
- To investigate potential sex differences in parent-child sleep associations.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 180 children from the SEPAGES cohort.
- Group-based multitrajectory modeling to identify sleep groups based on nighttime sleep duration (NSD), daytime sleep duration (DSD), and subjective sleep loss.
- Multinomial logistic regressions to analyze associations between parental and child sleep trajectories.
Main Results:
- Three child sleep trajectory groups were identified: "No/few" (29.4%), "Moderate" (60.0%), and "Global" (10.6%).
- Mothers in the "Global" sleep group were more likely to have children in the same group.
- Mothers in "Subjective" and "Global" groups were less likely to have children in the "Moderate" group compared to the "No/few" group. No associations were found with paternal or couple sleep groups.
Conclusions:
- Parent-child sleep trajectory associations are stronger with mothers than fathers, suggesting greater maternal sensitivity or involvement.
- Early, targeted sleep interventions focused on mothers could benefit both maternal and child sleep outcomes.
- Findings highlight the importance of maternal sleep health in early childhood development.
Objectives:
We investigated intrafamilial sleep evolution by identifying children's sleep multitrajectory groups between 3- and 60-month of age and their association with parental sleep multitrajectory groups.
Methods:
We included 180 children from the SEPAGES cohort (Grenoble, France) whose parents belonged to previously identified sleep multitrajectory groups, through group-based multitrajectory modeling, between 3 and 36months postpartum, using nighttime (NSD) and weekend daytime (DSD) sleep durations and subjective sleep loss, comprising "No," "Subjective," and "Global" sleep problems groups. Child sleep information (NSD, DSD, subjective sleep loss, night waking, and sleep onset difficulties) was collected by parental questionnaires at 3-, 12-, 36-, and 60-month. We identified sleep multitrajectory groups using group-based multitrajectory modeling in children and examined their associations with parental sleep multitrajectory groups using multinomial logistic regressions.
Results:
We identified three sleep multitrajectory groups in children: the "No/few" group (29.4%) had moderate NSD, long DSD, low subjective sleep loss/night waking/sleep onset difficulties prevalence, the "Moderate" group (60.0%) had long NSD and moderate DSD, and medium subjective sleep loss/night waking/sleep onset difficulties prevalence, and the "Global" group (10.6%) had the shortest NSD and DSD, and the highest subjective sleep loss/night waking/sleep onset difficulties prevalence. After adjusting for covariates, mothers in the "Global" group were more likely to have children in the same group, and mothers in "Subjective" and "Global" groups were less likely to have children in the "Moderate" group than in the "No/few" group. No association was identified with paternal or couple sleep multitrajectory groups.
Conclusions:
The observed associations between parent-child sleep multitrajectory groups suggest greater maternal sensitivity to or involvement in the child's sleep than the fathers. Early preventive sleep actions could improve sleep in children and mothers.
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