Zeynep Kamil Maternity and Children Training and Research Hospital, Developmental Pediatrics Clinic, Istanbul, Turkey.
Atılım University, Department of Psychology, Ankara, Turkey.
Sleep Med. 2022 Feb;90:109-116. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2022.01.012. Epub 2022 Jan 22.
The findings regarding the association between prematurity, sleep problems, and maternal psychological well-being are mixed. This study examined preterm- and term-born infants' sleep patterns, ecology, and problems, in addition to the associations of these patterns with maternal parenting stress and depressive symptomatology.
In total, 84 mothers of infants between 6 and 17 months of corrected age, in which 40 were preterm infants and 44 were healthy full-term infants, participated in the study. Children's sleep was evaluated by the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. Maternal depressive symptoms were screened by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Maternal parenting stress was measured via the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form.
In preterm infants, lower total and nocturnal sleep duration and later falling asleep time were identified compared to term infants. Regarding sleep ecology, the percentages of poor sleepers, mother's perception of child's and her own sleep problems were similar in both groups. While the most common method of falling asleep was 'rocking the baby' in the preterm group, it was 'breastfeeding' in the term group. In both groups, the maternal perception of sleep problems positively predicted maternal parenting stress. Lastly, compared to good sleepers, higher maternal parenting stress, higher maternal perception of mother's and child's sleep problems, and lower infants' age were identified among poor sleepers.
Despite many similarities in the sleep characteristics of preterm and term infants, several differences in sleep patterns and sleep ecology of preterm infants were identified. Since the maternal perception of sleep problems was found to predict parenting stress, guidance on infant sleep is suggested to support families.
早产儿、睡眠问题与产妇心理健康之间的关联结果存在差异。本研究检查了早产儿和足月婴儿的睡眠模式、生态和问题，以及这些模式与母亲育儿压力和抑郁症状的关联。
共有 84 名婴儿（纠正年龄 6 至 17 个月）的母亲参与了这项研究，其中 40 名是早产儿，44 名是健康的足月婴儿。通过简短婴儿睡眠问卷评估儿童的睡眠情况。使用爱丁堡产后抑郁量表筛查产妇的抑郁症状。使用父母压力指数-短表评估母亲的育儿压力。
与足月婴儿相比，早产儿的总睡眠时间和夜间睡眠时间较短，入睡时间较晚。在睡眠生态方面，两组的睡眠不佳者比例、母亲对孩子和自己睡眠问题的感知相似。在早产儿组中，最常见的入睡方式是“摇晃婴儿”，而在足月组中则是“母乳喂养”。在两组中，母亲对睡眠问题的感知均正向预测母亲的育儿压力。最后，与睡眠良好者相比，睡眠不佳者的母亲育儿压力较高，母亲对孩子和自己睡眠问题的感知较高，婴儿年龄较小。
尽管早产儿和足月婴儿的睡眠特征有许多相似之处，但早产儿的睡眠模式和睡眠生态仍存在一些差异。由于母亲对睡眠问题的感知被发现可以预测育儿压力，因此建议提供有关婴儿睡眠的指导，以支持家庭。
