Study: Poor sleep in infancy linked to behavioral issues
By: Team Ifairer | Posted: 12-03-2020
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For this specific study, the researchers obtained information from nearly 1700 parents who completed a baseline questionnaire, and reported on sleep habits of their children at 3, 8, 18 and 24 months. These results were compared with a separate questionnaire on emotional and behavioral symptoms, which was completed by 950 parents at the childĀ“s age of 24 months..
The researchers found that high frequency of night wakings at 3 months was strongly linked to emotional, behavioral and self-regulation (the ability to control emotions and behaviors) problems in toddlers. Further, infants who experienced shorter sleep duration, who took longer to fall asleep and who experienced frequent night wakings at different stages of early childhood were likely to find problems in regulating their behavior and emotions at the age of 24 months, leading to disrupting emotions and behaviors, such as temper tantrums.
The study contributes to recent research on the role of early sleep problems in socio-emotional development. The research suggests that infant sleep problems may be due to a variety of mechanisms, including genetic and environmental factors. "Environmental factors, such as sleeping practices in the family, parental reactions to crying and parental stress also play an important part in a child's sleep and socio-emotional development," Morales-Munoz added.