Sleep in the Family Context and Paternal Involvement in Infant Caregiving: Findings from Two Longitudinal Studies

• In Event: 3-012 - The Role of Fathers in Child Sleep

Integrative Statement

Infant sleep development has been conceptualized in the context of a transactional model emphasizing the ongoing bi-directional links between infant sleep and physiological and environmental factors. For instance, infant sleep problems have been associated with parenting factors such as maternal depression and parental bedtime/nighttime soothing behaviors. These links highlight the importance of studying sleep within the family context. However, most of the studies on parenting and infant sleep have focused exclusively on mothers, ignoring the important role fathers may have.

The current two longitudinal studies examined infant sleep development in the family context, with a specific emphasis on fathers’ role. The first study was aimed at comparing the changes fathers and mothers experience in their sleep from pregnancy to 4 months postpartum, and at examining the links between infant and both parents’ sleep while using objective (i.e. actigraphy) sleep measures. Moreover, paternal involvement in caregiving was examined in relation to parents’ and infant sleep. The study included 50 couples recruited during pregnancy. Parent and infant sleep was measured with actigraphy for 7 nights. Paternal caregiving involvement was assessed with the Parental Involvement Questionnaire, which measures the proportional level of maternal versus paternal involvement in 10 different infant-care tasks (e.g., feeding, playing).

Findings demonstrated that both parents showed a significant increase in nocturnal wake minutes from pregnancy to 4 months (F[1,49]=7.59, p = 0.008). However, mothers were awake for more minutes (F[1,49]=76.60, p < 0.001), during pregnancy and at 4 months, whereas fathers’ sleep duration was significantly shorter than mothers’ (F[1,49]=5.74, p = 0.02) at both assessment points. Infant sleep quality was significantly associated with both parents’ sleep quality (For example, number of night-wakings: r=.44, p < .05 and r=.30, p < .05 for mothers and fathers respectively). Moreover, a relatively higher involvement of fathers in infant caregiving was associated with lower paternal sleep quality (night-wakings: r=.34, p < .05), but not with infant sleep quality. This non-significant finding regarding infant sleep could be related to the young age of the infant, as at this age sleep is probably influenced more strongly by maturational factors than by environment. This explanation is supported by the findings from our second longitudinal study, in which paternal higher involvement in caregiving was found to predict more consolidated infant sleep at later developmental phases (6 and 12 months). In this study, which included 150 families, infant sleep was assessed with actigraphy and sleep diaries. Both parents separately completed the Parental Involvement Questionnaire.

Using Structural Equation Modeling, we found that infant night-wakings and paternal involvement remained stable from 6 to 12 months (β=.31, p <.001; β=.66, p <.001 respectively). Importantly, higher paternal involvement at 6 months significantly predicted a decrease in infant diary night-wakings from 6 to 12 months (β=-.18, p =.002) (Figure 1). Overall, the findings from both studies suggest that fathers’ and mothers’ sleep quality deteriorates from pregnancy to post-partum, and is associated with infant nocturnal wakefulness. Moreover, having two parents who share infant caregiving responsibilities may contribute positively to the consolidation of infant sleep.

Authors

• Liat Tikotzky, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  Presenting Author

• Ella Volkovich, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  Non-Presenting Author

• Avel Horwitz, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dar-Ran Peled, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  Non-Presenting Author

• Omer Finkelstein, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  Non-Presenting Author