Preschool children’s sleep hygiene and family processes among low-income minority families

• In Event: Sleep across the lifecourse

Abstract

Background: Establishing healthy sleep habits is important for young children to thrive in early childhood. Good sleep hygiene is characterized by having a regular early bedtime, avoiding caffeine or electronics before bed, and falling asleep in a comfortable and quiet environment (Wilson et al., 2015). Children who have healthy sleep hygiene tend to have less bedtime resistance (Wilson et al., 2015) and better emotion regulation (Williams et al., 2016). Families with low incomes may have difficulties establishing good sleep hygiene, thus, their children may have more sleep problems (Sheares et al., 2013). This study contributes to the research on sleep in early childhood, especially with low-income, minority, and vulnerable families. The goal of this study was to explore the relation between sleep hygiene and family outcomes.

Methods: The sample for the present study is predominantly African American (92%) with the majority finishing some college (32%) or receiving a high school diploma (22%). About half of families were single parent (48%) homes. A questionnaire on sleep hygiene (Harsh et al., 2002) was administered to the parents of 104 children ages 2-5 (average 44 months) attending an early care and education center in an urban city in 2019. Data were also collected from parents regarding their stress level, education, conflict/closeness, and resilience using a project-specific questionnaire. The sleep hygiene subscales had moderate to good internal consistency (alphas=.40-.65).

Results: On average, parents reported weekday bedtimes at 9:00pm with about 10 hours of total night time sleep during weeknights. Weekday bedtime was negatively correlated with weekly reading frequency (r=-.42, p<.001). Specifically, average bedtime for children who don’t read with their parents is 9:11pm and average bedtime for children who read 6-7 times per week with their parents is 8:30pm. Thus, parents who report reading more often with their children tend to report earlier weekday bedtimes. The physiological subscale (e.g., reduced caffeine and rough play before bedtime) of the sleep hygiene questionnaire significantly predicted lower parent-child conflict, after controlling for child age and parent education (b=-.24, p<.01). Additionally, the physiological subscale significantly predicted reduced stress (b=-.26, p<.01) and increased resilience (b=.16, p<.01), after controlling for child age and parent education. Thus, better physiological sleep hygiene habits for children may lead to reduced parent-child conflict and parental stress, as well as increased resilience (i.e., being able to deal with setbacks and stressful events).

Conclusion: Establishing good sleep habits at an early age is important for child and family functioning. Early childhood education programs serving children and families with low incomes should promote healthy sleep habits as a way to positively influence children’s behavior, family stress levels, and healthy parenting habits.

Authors

• Tanya Tavassolie, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  Presenting Author

• Brenda Jones Harden, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author