2-089 - Sleep and Cognition from Infancy to Middle Childhood: The Role of Socioeconomic Factors

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Sleep is a basic biological regulatory process that relates to multiple aspects of cognitive functioning (Astill et al., 2012). However, few investigations have studied these links in early childhood, a time characterized by major developments in both sleep patterns and brain function. This symposium offers an investigation of multiple aspects of sleep in the development of children’s cognition. In line with accumulating evidence showing that children’s sleep, cognition, and environments are interwoven (Bernier et al., 2014), all presentations consider the role of socioeconomic factors in this process.
Presentations include four studies robustly designed to assess the links between sleep and cognition through multiple measures. Other strong features include the focus on different developmental periods, mediating and moderating mechanisms, longitudinal designs, and ethnically diverse samples. Study 1 examined the links between sleep at 3 months and performance on an attention task and standardized cognitive assessment at 6 months, while considering the moderating role of maternal characteristics. Study 2 assessed the links between sleep and various measures of executive function during toddlerhood, while examining the moderating role of family SES. Study 3 examined the links between trajectories of sleep duration through the preschool period and children’s academic performance in first grade, as well as the moderating role of family SES. Finally, study 4 examined self-reported sleepiness as an intervening variable linking ethnicity and SES to academic performance in middle childhood. Together, the results suggest that the links between sleep and cognition are multifaceted and should be evaluated while considering children’s socio-economic context.

Sub Unit

• Health, Growth, Injury

Chairs

• Noa Gueron-Sela, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

• Annie Bernier, University of Montreal

Individual Presentations

• Maternal Education and Sleep Quality Moderate the Associations Between Infant Sleep and Cognition - Presenting Author: Marie Camerota, UNC-Chapel Hill; Non-Presenting Author: Noa Gueron-Sela, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Cathi Propper, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• The Association between Executive Function and Sleep in Toddlerhood is Moderated by Socioeconomic Status - Presenting Author: Caroline Page Hoyniak, Indiana University - Bloomington; Non-Presenting Author: John Bates, Indiana University - Bloomington; Non-Presenting Author: Maureen E. McQuillan, Indiana University; Non-Presenting Author: Victoria J Molfese, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Non-Presenting Author: Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: Angela D. Staples, Eastern Michigan University

• Sleep Growth Curves in the Preschool Years as Predictors of Early Academic Performance - Presenting Author: Catherine Cimon-Paquet, University of Montreal; Non-Presenting Author: Annie Bernier, University of Montreal; Non-Presenting Author: Émilie Tétreault, University of Montreal; Non-Presenting Author: Célia Matte-Gagné, Laval University

• Sleepiness as a Pathway Linking Race and Socioeconomic Status with Children's Academic and Cognitive Outcomes - Presenting Author: Mina Shimizu, Auburn University; Non-Presenting Author: Lauren Philbrook, Colgate University; Non-Presenting Author: Joseph A Buckhalt, Auburn University; Non-Presenting Author: Mona El-Sheikh, Auburn University