The Role of Parenting in the Relationship Between SES and Sleep in Early Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Health, Growth, Injury

Abstract

Introduction: Lifelong sleep habits are established early in development. During the preschool years, children transition from a biphasic sleep pattern to an adult-like monophasic sleep pattern. Disruptions during that sensitive period may influence sleep quality and related cognitive functioning. Household factors, particularly socioeconomic status (SES), are known to be associated with sleep quality. In older children and adolescents, those from lower SES households often exhibit poorer sleep quality. Whether this association between SES and sleep is present in young children is currently unknown. Given the importance of sleep for healthy physical and cognitive development, exploring how SES-related disparities are linked to sleep in preschoolers is warranted. Aspects of parenting, such as rule-setting or knowledge surrounding children’s sleep needs, may play a role in the relationship between SES and sleep quality. Here, we aimed to examine the relation between SES and sleep in early childhood and explore the role of parenting factors in these relations. We hypothesized that children from lower SES households would have poorer sleep and that this relation may be attributed, in part, to parenting factors.
Methods: Children (N=244, M age=51.8mo, 48% female) wore actigraph watches for 5-16 days to objectively measure sleep. Primary caregivers completed a health and demographics questionnaire as well as the Parenting Scale (used to assess effectiveness of the caregiver’s discipline strategies) and the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). We included the question “How much sleep do you think your child needs?” to determine parental perception of child sleep needs. SES was constructed as a composite variable capturing parent income, education, and employment status. All analyses controlled for age.
Results: Overnight and 24-hr sleep durations were positively associated with SES (r=.21, p=.02; r=.20, p=.03). Bedtime was negatively associated with SES, implying lower SES children tend to fall asleep later (r=-.39, p<.001). Nap duration did not correlate with SES, however children from lower SES households were more likely to be habitual nappers (> 5 days/week; p=.04). For Parenting Scale scores, SES negatively correlated with overall use of ineffective strategies (r=-.25, p=.001) and use of lax strategies (r=-.29, p<.001). When controlling for laxness scores, the correlations between overnight sleep duration and 24-hr sleep duration with SES were both weakened (p=.05, p=.08, respectively), though bedtime remained negatively associated with SES (r=-.37, p=.001). Higher parental perceptions of child sleep need were associated with higher SES (rs=.4, p<.001). Controlling for parental perceived sleep need, the relationships between overnight and 24-hr sleep durations and SES were also weakened (p=.24; p=.17). Future analyses will explore the mediation effects of parenting factors.
Conclusion: Use of ineffective parenting strategies and perceptions of child sleep needs both appear to play role in the relationship between SES and child sleep. Gaining insight into how household factors related to SES may impact this transitional period is beneficial towards developing evidence-based sleep interventions. Parental perception of sleep need, which was strongly related to SES in our sample, is a very modifiable factor, and more parental education on recommended sleep requirements for young children may help close the gap on these disparities.

Authors

• Jennifer F Holmes, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Presenting Author

• Olivia Hanron
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rebecca Spencer, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Non-Presenting Author