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Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
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Disorders of Arousal in Children and Associated Emotional-Behavioural Problems: Results From a Non-Clinical

Christine Laganière1,2,3, Hélène Gaudreau2, Samantha Kenny1,3

  • 1Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Journal of Sleep Research
|October 4, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Frequent episodes of sleepwalking and sleep terrors in 4-year-olds are linked to more internalizing and externalizing problems. This association, particularly for externalizing behaviors, persists into age five, suggesting potential emotional-behavioral concerns.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

  • Disorders of arousal, including sleepwalking and sleep terrors, are common in childhood.
  • The relationship between the frequency of these sleep disturbances and concurrent or subsequent emotional-behavioral problems requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the longitudinal associations between the frequency of disorders of arousal episodes and emotional-behavioral problems in healthy children aged 4 and 5 years.

Main Methods:

  • A longitudinal cohort study involving 345 mother-child dyads recruited during pregnancy.
  • Mothers completed validated questionnaires at child ages 4 and 5.
  • Linear regression analyses were used to assess concurrent and predictive associations, controlling for covariates.

Main Results:

  • More frequent disorders of arousal episodes at age 4 were significantly associated with higher levels of internalizing (B=2.659, p=0.001) and externalizing problems (B=2.740, p=0.006) concurrently.
  • At age 5, episode frequency was not significantly associated with concurrent internalizing or externalizing problems (p>0.05).
  • Frequent episodes at age 4 predicted more externalizing problems at age 5 (B=2.462, p=0.039).

Conclusions:

  • Frequent disorders of arousal episodes in early childhood, even in non-clinical samples, can be associated with emotional-behavioral difficulties.
  • While occasional sleepwalking or sleep terrors are not concerning, frequent occurrences warrant consideration for screening emotional-behavioral problems.

Keywords:
disorders of arousalemotional–behavioural problemsinternalising problemspediatricssleep terrorssleepwalking

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