Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2019 Aug;28(8):1117-1127. doi: 10.1007/s00787-019-01275-y. Epub 2019 Jan 19.
Whether or not childhood sleep problems and anxiety occur simultaneously, or one precedes the other, and any effect of autistic traits on this relationship remains unclear. We investigated longitudinal associations between sleep and anxiety at 2 years and sleep and anxiety at 8 years controlling for demographic variables. We also examined the additional influence of autistic traits at 2 years on sleep problems and anxiety at 8 years. Participants were from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, where 2900 pregnant women were recruited between 1989 and 1991 and their children assessed every 2-3 years thereafter. Demographic information was provided at 16-18 weeks gestation. Children's sleep and anxiety at 2 and 8 years and autistic traits at 2 years were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist. Hierarchical multiple regression models tested the prediction of both anxiety and sleep problems at 8 years. Sleep problems at 2 years and 8 years, anxiety at 2 years, and autistic traits at 2 years were significantly associated with anxiety at 8 years. Sleep problems at 2 years and anxiety at 8 years were significantly related to sleep problems at 8 years. Each of these models explained about 20% of variance. Childhood sleep problems, anxiety and autistic traits are interrelated and can occur concurrently in young children, but the best predictor of poor sleep in middle childhood is concurrent anxiety and vice versa. Anxiety and sleep problems may be an early indicator of autism in young children and early autistic traits may also contribute to anxiety problems later in childhood.
无论儿童的睡眠问题和焦虑是否同时发生，或者一个先于另一个发生，以及自闭症特征对这种关系的任何影响尚不清楚。我们调查了 2 岁时睡眠和焦虑与 8 岁时睡眠和焦虑之间的纵向关联，同时控制了人口统计学变量。我们还检查了 2 岁时自闭症特征对 8 岁时睡眠问题和焦虑的额外影响。参与者来自西澳大利亚妊娠队列（Raine）研究，该研究于 1989 年至 1991 年间招募了 2900 名孕妇，并在此后的每 2-3 年对其子女进行评估。在 16-18 周妊娠时提供了人口统计学信息。儿童的睡眠和焦虑在 2 岁和 8 岁时以及自闭症特征在 2 岁时使用儿童行为检查表进行测量。层次多重回归模型测试了对 8 岁时焦虑和睡眠问题的预测。2 岁和 8 岁时的睡眠问题、2 岁时的焦虑和 2 岁时的自闭症特征与 8 岁时的焦虑显著相关。2 岁时的睡眠问题和 8 岁时的焦虑与 8 岁时的睡眠问题显著相关。这些模型中的每一个都解释了大约 20%的方差。儿童期睡眠问题、焦虑和自闭症特征相互关联，在幼儿中可能同时发生，但预测儿童中期睡眠不良的最佳指标是同时存在的焦虑，反之亦然。焦虑和睡眠问题可能是幼儿自闭症的早期指标，而早期自闭症特征也可能导致儿童后期的焦虑问题。
