Christine Laganière, Hélène Gaudreau, Samantha Kenny, Michael Meaney, Marie-Hélène Pennestri
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study aimed to assess the associations between the frequency of episodes of disorders of arousal (sleepwalking and sleep terrors) and emotional-behavioural problems in a longitudinal cohort of healthy children aged 4 and 5 years. Mother-child dyads (N = 345) were recruited during pregnancy for a longitudinal cohort study. Mothers completed validated questionnaires when children were 4 and 5 years old. Linear regressions assessed (1) the concurrent association between the frequency of disorders of arousal episodes (i.e., sleepwalking and sleep terrors) and emotional-behavioural problems in children at 4 and 5; and (2) the association between the frequency of disorders of arousal episodes at 4 and emotional-behavioural problems at 5. Models included the following covariates: child's sex, child's nighttime sleep duration, socioeconomic status and maternal depressive symptoms. More frequent episodes of disorders of arousal at age 4 were significantly associated with more concurrent internalising (B = 2.659, p = 0.001), and externalising problems (B = 2.740, p = 0.006). At age 5, the frequency of episodes was not associated with concurrent internalising and externalising problems (p > 0.05). More frequent episodes at age 4 were associated with more externalising problems at 5 (B = 2.462, p = 0.039). Although sleep terrors and sleepwalking are often benign, our results show that even in a non-clinical cohort, these sleep phenomena can be associated with emotional-behavioural problems in children as young as 4. While the mere presence of sleep terrors or sleepwalking is not alarming, screening for emotional-behavioural problems seems appropriate for children with frequent episodes.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Sleep Research is dedicated to basic and clinical sleep research. The Journal publishes original research papers and invited reviews in all areas of sleep research (including biological rhythms). The Journal aims to promote the exchange of ideas between basic and clinical sleep researchers coming from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines. The Journal will achieve this by publishing papers which use multidisciplinary and novel approaches to answer important questions about sleep, as well as its disorders and the treatment thereof.