Are parental depressive symptoms related to the sleep quality and physical activity of their children with developmental disabilities?

BACKGROUND

Parenting young children with developmental disabilities presents unique opportunities and challenges. Parents can experience meaningful priority shifts in and appreciation for their lives, but they can also be at greater risk for diminished emotional health. Physiological child factors warrant further investigation as correlates for parent risk of or protection from depression.

AIM

This study examined the relations between parental depressive symptoms and the (1) sleep quality and (2) physical activity in their children with developmental disabilities adjusting for parent- and child-level factors.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Children and parents were recruited for participation in this study from a university-based neurodevelopmental clinic. Parents completed questionnaires about themselves including measures of depressive symptoms and about their children including measures of sleep quality and physical activity. Researchers administered developmental measures to the children and physicians completed children's diagnostic evaluations. Participants were 147 children (32 ± 4 months old) mostly with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents (mostly mothers). Factors associated with parent-reported depressive symptoms were analyzed with a generalized linear model.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

An R value of 43 % confirmed that there was a substantial, moderate-to-large sized, improvement in the proportion of variance explained by the final model when compared with a null, or intercept-only, model. Depressive symptoms were approximately two times higher for parents of children with above average sleep disturbances and one and half times higher for parents whose children engaged in above average physical activity.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Our study demonstrates the importance of considering children's sleep and physical activity in supporting children's developmental disabilities because they may offer pathways to enhanced family resilience and well-being.