Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de l'Ouest-de-l'Ile-de-Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
J Clin Sleep Med. 2022 Sep 1;18(9):2253-2260. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.10080.
While sleep terrors are associated with emotional-behavioral problems in school-aged children and adults, little is known about these associations in early childhood, when sleep terrors prevalence is at its highest. Moreover, studies using a longitudinal design and controlling for confounding variables are scarce. This study's objective was to determine whether the frequency of sleep terrors in toddlers predicts emotional-behavioral problems during the preschool years.
Participants (n = 324) were enrolled in the prospective Maternal Adversity Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment cohort study. The frequency of sleep terrors in children was assessed at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months using maternal reports. Children's emotional-behavioral problems were measured at 48 and 60 months using the Child Behavior Checklist. Relevant confounders linked to the child, mother, and environment were also taken into consideration.
The frequency of sleep terrors was relatively stable across early childhood (16.7-20.5%). A generalized estimating equation revealed that the frequency of sleep terrors in early childhood was associated with increased emotional-behavioral problems at 4 and 5 years of age, more specifically with internalizing problems ( < .001), after controlling for child's sex, time point, family socioeconomic status, maternal depressive symptoms, and nighttime sleep duration. The frequency of sleep terrors was further associated with the emotionally reactive, anxious/depressed, and somatic complaints scales ( < .01).
This longitudinal study provides further support for a high prevalence of sleep terrors in early childhood. Our findings show meaningful associations between higher frequency of sleep terrors and emotional-behavioral problems as early as toddlerhood, especially internalizing problems.
Laganière C, Gaudreau H, Pokhvisneva I, et al. Sleep terrors in early childhood and associated emotional-behavioral problems. . 2022;18(9):2253-2260.
虽然睡眠恐惧与学龄儿童和成年人的情绪行为问题有关，但在睡眠恐惧患病率最高的幼儿期，人们对此类关联知之甚少。此外，使用纵向设计并控制混杂变量的研究很少。本研究的目的是确定幼儿期睡眠恐惧的频率是否预测学前期间的情绪行为问题。
参与者（n=324）参加了前瞻性母婴逆境脆弱性和神经发育队列研究。使用母亲报告在 12、18、24 和 36 个月时评估儿童睡眠恐惧的频率。使用儿童行为检查表在 48 和 60 个月时测量儿童的情绪行为问题。还考虑了与儿童、母亲和环境相关的相关混杂因素。
在整个幼儿期，睡眠恐惧的频率相对稳定（16.7-20.5%）。广义估计方程显示，幼儿期睡眠恐惧的频率与 4 岁和 5 岁时的情绪行为问题增加有关，特别是与内化问题有关（<0.001），在控制儿童性别、时间点、家庭社会经济地位、母亲抑郁症状和夜间睡眠时间后。睡眠恐惧的频率与情绪反应、焦虑/抑郁和躯体抱怨量表进一步相关（<0.01）。
这项纵向研究进一步支持了幼儿期睡眠恐惧的高患病率。我们的研究结果表明，睡眠恐惧频率较高与情绪行为问题之间存在显著关联，早在幼儿期就存在，尤其是内化问题。
