Poster #57 - A Comparison of Sleep Problems Among Children from Military, Civilian, and Divorced Families

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Background
Deployment of a parent can cause substantial disruption and stress for military families. Evidence of adverse effects on children is considerably mixed, however, with some studies finding higher rates of emotional, behavioral, and academic problems among youth with a deployed military parent compared to youth from military families without a deployed parent, and other studies finding no differences. Another facet of children’s functioning known to be highly susceptible to stress – sleep – has received virtually no attention among military families. To address this gap, the current study examined differences in parent-reported sleep problems among youth, 7 to 14 years of age, with a deployed military parent compared to youth from three other family types.

Methods
N = 94 youth ages 7 to 14 years (M = 10.34 years, SD = 1.87 years), who were part of a larger multi-site study, were included in the current investigation. Youth were recruited from Texas and came from one of four family types: military families with a deployed parent (MILdep; n = 26), military families without a deployed parent (MIL; n = 25), civilian families with two parents at home (CIV; n = 17), and civilian families with separated/divorced parents within the last 12 months (CIVdiv; n = 26). Child sleep problems were measured using the validated Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ; Owens, Spirito, & McGuinn, 2000) which yields a total problems score and eight subscale scores: bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep duration, sleep anxiety, night wakings, parasomnias, sleep disordered breathing, and daytime sleepiness. Child internalizing symptoms were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991) and used as a covariate in all analyses.

Results
Comparison of total sleep problem scores among children from the four types of families was non-significant [F(3, 75) = 1.67, p > .05]. For comparison of specific sleep problems, differences emerged for sleep anxiety [F(3, 80) = 2.83, p = .044, partial η2 = .096] and bedtime resistance [F(3, 79) = 3.41, p = .021, partial η2 = .115]. Post hoc analysis using a Bonferroni adjustment revealed significantly greater bedtime resistance among CIVdiv compared to MILdep youth [adjusted mean difference of 2.06 (95% CI, .27 to 3.86), p = .016]. For sleep anxiety, CIVdiv youth had marginally higher scores than MILdep youth [adjusted mean difference of 1.306 (95% CI, -.011 to 2.623), p = .053].

Conclusion
Consistent with some previous research examining rates of emotional and behavioral problems among MILdep youth, we observed few differences in sleep problems between MILdep youth and youth from three other family types. When differences did emerge, MILdep youth were reported to exhibit fewer sleep problems than CIVdiv youth. Overall, our results suggest that many MILdep youth show resilience to stress when a parent is deployed.

Authors

• Megan Rech, University of Houston
  Presenting Author

• Alyssa Vieira, University of Houston

• Charmaine Higa-McMillan, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo

• Deborah Beidel, University of Central Florida

• Candice A Alfano, University of Houston