Poster #155 - Poor Sleep and Emotional Reactivity in Infants and Toddlers: The Protective Role of Supportive Parenting

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Background
Poor sleep in children is associated with negative mood, stress, and fatigue (Meijer & Mindell, 2007). Additionally, sleep problems contribute to the development of emotion regulation difficulties (Schumacher et al., 2017). However, studies on the link between parenting and infant sleep suggest that parental behaviors, including emotional availability and positive parent-child relationships contribute to better infant sleep (Sadeh, Tikotzky & Scher, 2010). The current study aimed to examine the moderating role of supportive parenting in the relation between infants’ sleep problems and infants’ emotional reactivity. It was expected that infants with sleep problems would exhibit more emotional reactivity, but that supportive parenting would reduce this relation.
Method
Participants were 61 infants (38 boys; Mage = 27.44 months, SDage = 7.57, Range = 8 – 44 months) and their mothers from an ongoing study of stress among Early Head Start families. Most children were identified as Hispanic or Latino (63.9%) followed by non-Hispanic or Latino and Caucasian/White (29.6%), African American/Black (13.1%), and Biracial or Multiracial (11.5%). Income data was assessed via comprehensive questionnaires. Families were experiencing low income relative to the federal poverty line: 37.7% at or below 100% FPL, 8.2% at or below 200%, 1.6% at or below 250% and 6.6% at or below 300% FPL. Infants’ sleep problems were assessed using a sum of the following six parent-report items (‘my sleep is similar to how it was before I became pregnant’; ‘my child interrupts my sleep on most nights’; ‘being tired interferes with my ability to do every day tasks’; ‘my child's sleep patterns affect other people in the family’; ‘we do fewer things as a family because we are tired’; ‘getting enough sleep is NOT a problem for me’). The first and last items were reversed before summing. Emotional reactivity was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 2000) emotion reactivity subscale t-scores. Parenting was videotaped during a semi-structured ‘3-bag’ play task and coded; final scores were comprised of scores for sensitivity, responsivity, positive affect, animation, and stimulation of development, (1= Not at all characteristic, 5 = Highly characteristic). Scoring protocols followed standard 3-bag coding protocols (Mills-Koonce, 2013; NICHD SECCYD, 1999).
Results
Regression analyses revealed a main effect of sleep problems (β = 0.24, p < .05) such that children with more sleep problems displayed higher emotional reactivity as expected. Furthermore, moderation analyses (using the PROCESS macro) showed that supportive parenting moderates the relationship between child sleep problems and emotional reactivity (β = -0.28, p < 0.01), controlling for child sex (Figure 1). Among infants with high levels of sleep problems, those who experienced less supportive parenting were at increased risk for development of high emotional reactivity.
Discussion
The current study’s findings indicate that children with sleep problems are at an increased risk for early emerging emotional difficulties. However, positive parenting behaviors may be a significant buffer for these effects. The findings suggest that targeting sleep may improve early emotional difficulties, and that interventions that target infant sleep by including positive parenting behaviors may be especially important.

Authors

• Keimarisse Colon-Diaz, Albizu University
  Presenting Author

• Tiffany Phu, Department of Psychology, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Neda Senehi, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eliana Hurwich-Reiss, University of California San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lisa J. Schlueter, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Sabin Research Institute
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah Enos Watamura, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
  Non-Presenting Author