Parent-Induced Emotional Security During the Pre-Bedtime Period and Objective Toddler Sleep: Moderation by Temperament

• In Event: Sleep as a Predictor and Outcome of the Parent-Infant Relationship

Abstract

Little research has examined how differences in family processes during the pre-bedtime period are associated with differences in objective toddler sleep. Instead of focusing on what happens during the pre-bedtime period, we are beginning to focus on how these interactions happen— how parents foster child emotional security in the pre-bedtime period to create an environment that is conducive for sleep. The current study investigates how parent-induced emotional security during the pre-bedtime period is associated with objective toddler sleep outcomes, and how child temperament moderates this association.

Participants included 546 30-month-old toddlers (265 female) who participated in a study of sleep and self-regulation. Trained research assistants visited the family’s home to observe during the hour leading up to the child’s reported bedtime, taking narrative-style notes of family interactions and activities that occurred. Narratives were analyzed using a text-analytic approach that identified the frequency of words appearing in the narratives reflecting various aspects of the construct of emotional security. Three aspects of emotional security in the pre-bedtime period were examined: 1) general parent and child enjoyment, 2) the presence of soothing/comforting activities, and 3) parental use warm/positive parenting strategies. For each narrative, the proportion of words corresponding with these constructs was identified, and a single, standardized index of pre-bedtime emotional security (a combination of these three variables) was created.

Child sleep was assessed using actigraphs, worn by the toddlers for two weeks. Using Principal Components Analysis, we created four composites, representing major domains of sleep: duration, variability, timing, and activity. These composites were examined, along with a single index of latency to fall asleep. Child temperament was assessed using the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQa). In the current study, we examined on moderation by the major temperament factors of the CBQ: extraversion/surgency, negative affect, and effortful control.

Pearson correlations were used to examine the association between overall pre-bedtime emotional security and objective child sleep. Higher levels of induced pre-bedtime emotional security were associated with longer sleep durations (r = .11, p<.05), earlier sleep timing (r = -.21, p<.01), and less night-to-night sleep variability (r = -.13, p<.01). Multiple regression was used to examine how temperament moderated the association between the different components of our emotional security index and child sleep. Findings suggested moderation by both negative affect and effortful control. For children high in negative affect, lower levels of soothing/comforting activities during the prebedtime period were associated with increased sleep variability, while children low in negative affect did not show such an association (Figure 1a). For children low in effortful control, low levels of soothing/comforting activities during the pre-bedtime period were associated with longer latencies to fall asleep (Figure 1b). No significant moderation by extraversion/surgency was observed.

Findings suggest that higher levels of pre-bedtime emotional security are associated with better objective sleep, and that toddlers high in negative affect and low in effortful control may particularly benefit from the presence of soothing/comforting activities during the pre-bedtime period. These findings provide a potential target for tailoring early childhood sleep interventions to child temperament.

Authors

• Caroline P. Hoyniak, Washington University in St. Louis
  Presenting Author

• John E Bates, Indiana University - Bloomington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Victoria J Molfese
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Virginia Commonwealth University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kirby Deater-Deckard, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Non-Presenting Author