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Quadratic associations between harsh parenting and changes in children's nightly sleep
Morgan J Thompson1, Ryan J Kelly2, Mona El-Sheikh1
1Department of Human Development & Family Science, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA.
Objectives:
Harsh parenting has been associated with children's poor sleep. Existing studies with older children are predominantly cross-sectional and focus on linear associations between harsh parenting and sleep. Addressing these gaps, we investigated the longitudinal quadratic association between harsh parenting and change in children's sleep over 2 years.
Method:
Children (N = 329, 46% female, 64% White/European American, and 36% Black/African American) and their parents from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds participated in 2 data collection waves spaced 2 years apart (ages 9 and 11, respectively). Parents reported on harsh parenting at age 9. Sleep was assessed at both waves utilizing 7 nights of actigraphy to derive measures of sleep duration (minutes) and sleep fragmentation (efficiency, activity), and children reported on their sleep-wake problems.
Results:
Quadratic effects of harsh parenting emerged for sleep minutes (ß = .11, P = .05), sleep efficiency (ß = .17, P = .02), and sleep activity (ß = -.16, P = .04). Greater declines in sleep were observed as harsh parenting increased from low to moderate levels, whereas associations attenuated and plateaued at higher levels of harsh parenting.
Conclusions:
Novel findings build on the literature by considering associations between sleep and a prevalent form of family risk and illustrate that relations between harsh parenting and sleep are quadratic.
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