The Child Psychiatry Unit, Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, Israel; MA Clinical Psychology Program, Ruppin Academic Center, Emek Hefer, Israel.
The Child Psychiatry Unit, Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Sleep Med. 2018 Mar;43:77-82. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2017.10.009. Epub 2017 Nov 14.
Previous research has demonstrated a link between childhood anxiety and sleep problems, but little is known about the link between these difficulties and parental sleep disturbances. The purpose of the current study was to explore the association between anxious children's sleep difficulties and those of their mothers.
A total of 101 children aged 8-18 years and their mothers participated in this study. The clinical group included 66 children (mean age = 11.45 years, standard deviation = 2.79 years) diagnosed with anxiety disorders, and the control group included 35 age- and sex-matched normal healthy controls. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their child's anxiety and sleep, as well as their own sleep. Children completed questionnaires assessing anxiety, sleep, depression, and obsessive symptoms.
Both children and mothers in the clinical group exhibited more sleep difficulties compared to controls. A regression analysis revealed that pre-sleep arousal negatively predicted children's sleep. Furthermore, children's anxiety level was associated with parental levels of sleep disturbances. This link was fully mediated by the children's sleep disturbances score.
Mothers of children with anxiety disorders exhibit higher levels of sleep disturbances than controls. These difficulties are linked to children's anxiety and sleep problems. When treating children with anxiety, it is therefore important to assess their overall sleep disturbances, as well as parental sleep difficulties, and when appropriate to add a specific sleep intervention component.
先前的研究表明，儿童焦虑与睡眠问题之间存在关联，但对于这些困难与父母睡眠障碍之间的关联知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨焦虑儿童睡眠困难与其母亲之间的关联。
共有 101 名 8-18 岁的儿童及其母亲参与了这项研究。临床组包括 66 名（平均年龄=11.45 岁，标准差=2.79 岁）被诊断为焦虑障碍的儿童，对照组包括 35 名年龄和性别匹配的正常健康对照。母亲们完成了评估儿童焦虑和睡眠以及自身睡眠的问卷。儿童们完成了评估焦虑、睡眠、抑郁和强迫症状的问卷。
临床组的儿童和母亲都比对照组表现出更多的睡眠困难。回归分析显示，睡前觉醒状态负向预测了儿童的睡眠质量。此外，儿童的焦虑水平与父母的睡眠障碍程度有关。这种关联完全由儿童的睡眠障碍评分介导。
焦虑障碍儿童的母亲表现出比对照组更高水平的睡眠障碍。这些困难与儿童的焦虑和睡眠问题有关。因此，在治疗焦虑儿童时，评估他们的整体睡眠障碍以及父母的睡眠困难非常重要，并且在适当的时候添加特定的睡眠干预成分。
