Sleep problems in children are common and can affect their health. This study examined whether sleep duration mediates the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems in children...Show moreSleep problems in children are common and can affect their health. This study examined whether sleep duration mediates the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems in children from nine to eleven years. The study consisted of a research among a group of 482 children, 220 boys and 260 girls (two unknown). The mean age of the children was 10.5 years (SD = 0.83). Their parents were asked to fill out the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which were used to measure sleep disturbances and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems of the children respectively. In addition, parents kept an online sleep diary for a week to collect information about the sleep duration of the child. Regression analyses showed a significant association between sleep problems and both internalizing (β = .24) and externalizing behavioral problems (β = .26), as well as a significant negative association between sleep problems and sleep duration (β = -.21). Sleep duration and - both internalizing and externalizing - behavioral problems were not significantly related. The results therefore suggest that sleep duration did not mediate the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems. The overall findings highlight the importance that parents should be aware of sleep problems underlying the behavioral problems of their child. Besides, sleep problems may serve as a warning for a higher risk of developing behavior problems. The findings of this study may be useful in interventions to treat, control or prevent sleep and behavioral problems. It should however be noted that other factors could influence the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems and more research is needed to further explore this association.Show less
In the last 100 years sleep duration of children declined with one hour a night. This is alarming, because it has been established that sleep duration has an influence on cognitive functions of...Show moreIn the last 100 years sleep duration of children declined with one hour a night. This is alarming, because it has been established that sleep duration has an influence on cognitive functions of children. To enhance the optimal development of boys and girls, we examined whether gender moderates the association between sleep duration and cognitive functioning. In this study 501 children, 229 boys and 272 girls, with an average age of 10.5 years participated. Parents kept a sleep diary for their child. The child completed various computer tasks which measure cognitive functions attention, inhibition and working memory. These were respectively the PVT, the PVT Go/No-Go and Digit Span. At home, the child did four Word pair tasks to measure declarative memory. Correlation analyses showed that shorter sleep duration was significantly associated with more attention (r = .18), less inhibition (r = .11) and better working memory (r = -.19), but not with declarative memory. Gender did not moderate the relations sleep duration and cognitive functions. However, girls performed significantly better than boys on the cognitive functions inhibition and working memory. Parents, teachers, social workers and children should know that short sleep duration as well as long sleep duration is associated with declined cognitive functioning, so the development of children can be advanced. It is also important to examine the best sleep duration for children of different ages, so they can use their best attention, working memory and inhibition and they can develop optimally.Show less
Children differ in their school performances, which are influenced by their executive functions (EF). The cause of these differences can probably be explained by individual differences in sleep...Show moreChildren differ in their school performances, which are influenced by their executive functions (EF). The cause of these differences can probably be explained by individual differences in sleep duration and temperament. The moderating effect of temperament on the association between sleep duration and EF and mutual relations have been studied. The sample consisted of 499 ‘normal’ children (228 boys, 271 girls) between 9 to 12 years (M = 10.5; SD = 0.85). Sleep duration is measured by a sleep log, temperament factors Extraversion, Negative Affectivity and Effortful Control by the EATQ-R. EF is divided in working memory (Visual digit span task) and inhibition (PVT Go/No-Go). ANCOVA has showed only an association between shorter sleep duration and less working memory for introvert children and the other way around (F(2, 410) = 5.15, p = .006), but not for neutral extraverted children or high extraverted children. Also other temperament factors did not show moderation effects. Furthermore, shorter sleep was significantly related with less inhibition (r = .12), but with better working memory (r = -.52). Extraverted children differ from introverted children on working memory (F(2, 433) = 3.24, p = .040) and little Effortful Control differs from the average level of Effortful Control (F(2, 436) = 3.55, p = .030). There were no other significant results in this study. This study has shown that school performances are not only influenced by cognitive capacities, but also by sleep and child’s temperament traits.Show less
Background. Chronotype influences both sleep characteristics and behavior. Evening oriented children are more at risk to develop behavioral problems compared to morning oriented children....Show moreBackground. Chronotype influences both sleep characteristics and behavior. Evening oriented children are more at risk to develop behavioral problems compared to morning oriented children. Insufficient sleep is common during childhood and can lead to behavioral problems. However, the association of sleep duration, chronotype and behavioral problems remains unclear, especially in children. Therefore, the current study examined the degree to which sleep duration acts as a mediator of the influence of chronotype on behavioral problems in Dutch non-clinical 9-11 year old children. Method. The sample consisted 483 children, 219 boys and 264 girls, with a mean age of 10.49 year old. Sleep duration was assessed with sleep diaries. Chronotype was measured using Children´s Chronotype Questionnaire (CCTQ) and behavioral problems were assessed with Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results. Regression analyses showed chronotype was a significant predictor of sleep duration (= -.10, p = .035), externalizing ( = .10, p = .030), but not internalizing behavioral problems (= .04, p = .410). Sleep duration was not significantly related to internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Furthermore, sleep duration did not act as a mediator between chronotype and internalizing (= .01, p = .900) or externalizing behavioral problems (= -.01, p = .869). Conclusions. Evening orientated children are more at risk to develop externalizing behavioral problems, which may lead to psychopathology and poor school performances. Short sleep is associated with eveningness and increased externalizing behavioral problems. Yet, sleep duration did not mediate the influence of chronotype on behavioral problems. Eveningness is identified as a possible risk factor. Early intervention to shift chronotype orientation to morningness or the use of flexible school times adjusted to optimal sleep-wake patterns might prevent problems later in life. More research is needed to provide understanding how the relation between sleep duration, chronotype and behavioral problems develops.Show less
Approximately ten to thirty percent of the children don’t get enough sleep. This can cause problems with learning and cognition. Evening-types often experience more sleep problems than morning...Show moreApproximately ten to thirty percent of the children don’t get enough sleep. This can cause problems with learning and cognition. Evening-types often experience more sleep problems than morning-types. This study investigates the relationship between chronotype and cognitive performances (sustained attention, inhibition and working memory) and whether this relationship is mediated by sleep duration. The sample consisted 452 children (208 males and 244 females; mean age 10.49 years). Parents filled in the Children’s Chronotype Questionnaire to measure chronotype. They also filled in a sleeping diary for a week to measure sleep duration. The children made multiple computer tasks: the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) to measure sustained attention, the PVT Go/No-Go to measure inhibition and a Digit Span task to measure working memory. Eveningness was associated with less sleep (β = -.10). Second, sustained attention and inhibition were not associated with chronotype. Evening-types performed better on the working memory task (β = .10). Third, children with less sleep performed better on the sustained attention (β = .16) and working memory task (β = -.25), but worse on the inhibition task (β = .12). This results show that sleep duration did not mediated the relation between chronotype and sustained attention and inhibition. But the relationship between chronotype and working memory is partially mediated by sleep duration. Evening-types remember a longer string of numbers than morning-types, this can be partially explained because the evening-types sleep shorter. It is important to investigate why these children perform better, despite the shorter sleep duration. Maybe sleep quality has a bigger influence on the cognitive performances than sleep duration. Last, it is important for parents to realize that sleep is important for the development of their children, because prevention is better than intervention.Show less
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