Participation in a Culturally Tailored Health Promotion Program Increases Bedtime Routines in Hispanic Children

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Background: Bedtime routines are an important part of sleep, especially for children (Anderson et al., 2016; Mindell & Williamson, 2017). While mothers acknowledge that bedtime routines are essential for children’s sleep, many also report inconsistent bedtime behaviors (Lindsay et al., 2018). Insufficient sleep puts children at risk of obesity (Liu et al., 2012; Patel & Hu, 2008), and children from low-income racial/ethnic minority families are more likely to engage in inconsistent bedtime routines (Wilson et al., 2015; Silva et al., 2011; Hale et al., 2009) as well as to be at an increased risk of obesity compared to non-minority children. Additionally, lack of parental knowledge about healthy bedtime habits may contribute to poorer practices around sleep (McDowall et al., 2016; McDowall et al., 2017).
Methods: Families participated in a randomized controlled trial of a culturally tailored health promotion program, “Abriendo Caminos” (Hannon et al., 2019). Families were assigned to the control, or the experimental group that consisted of a six-week workshop series that included healthy eating, positive family function, and physical activity classes. All families filled out a bedtime routines questionnaire (BRQ; Henderson & Jordan, 2010). Five questions tap into the consistency of bedtime routines during the weekdays, and fifteen questions ask about activities children engage in during the hour before bed.
Participants: Families were eligible to participate if they were of Mexican or Puerto Rican descent and had a child between the ages of 6 to18 years. Eighty-two Hispanic mothers (45 experimental, 37 control) completed pre- and post-trial surveys on bedtime routines. Eighty-nine percent of the mothers’ country of origin was Mexico. The average child age was 9.34 (SD = 3.17), and most children were female (55%).
Results: Mothers’ report of children’s bedtime routines increased from pre- to post-program participation, F(80) = 6.28, p <.05, M = 74.62 (SD = 1.42) to M = 77.42 (SD = 1.59). A simple effects test revealed that the change in bedtime routines was significantly greater after the intervention for children in the experimental group than those in the control group (p <.05). Thirty-seven percent of children in the experimental group were classified in the lowest category for bedtime routines at baseline, and this number was reduced to 22% post-participation. Additionally, only 29% of children were classified in the highest category at baseline, and this number increased to 51% post-participation. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that this change in categorization pre- to post- participation was significant (Z = -2.29, p <.05). Children’s bedtime routines in the control group did not change.
Conclusion. Participation in a culturally-tailored six-week workshop series that included a positive family function component is associated with increased bedtime routines. Bedtime routines are associated with quality of sleep, lower levels of obesity, and overall better health (Mindell & Williamson, 2018). Bedtime routines include modifiable behaviors that have significant health implications for children.

Group Authors

*The Abriendo Caminos Team

Authors

• Amber Jean Hammons, California State University, Fresno
  Presenting Author

• Margarita Teran-Garcia, University if Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela Wiley, Auburn University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Barbara H. Fiese, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author