Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Sleep Laboratory, Rivière-des-Prairies Mental Health Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
J Sleep Res. 2023 Aug;32(4):e13807. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13807. Epub 2022 Dec 22.
Neurological uniqueness, maladaptive behaviours, as well as atypical sleep patterns are reported to be defining characteristics of giftedness, but this has received little empirical support. We studied the polysomnography recorded sleep of gifted and typically-developing children together with features of maladaptive behaviours. The association of sleep macrostructure and sleep instability with maladaptive behaviours was also investigated in gifted children. In all, 19 gifted children (74% boys) and 17 typically-developing children (76% boys) aged 6-12 years were studied. Giftedness was identified using Renzulli's three-factor definition. The microarousal index, number of awakenings, and number of Stage shifts between sleep stages throughout the night were computed as sleep instability parameters. Maladaptive behaviours were assessed using the Child Behaviour Checklist. We found significantly more Stage N1 and less Stage N3 in gifted children compared to typically-developing children. More Stage N1 sleep was correlated with more externalising problems and less Stage N3 sleep was correlated with more internalising problems. Gifted children also displayed more rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, but this was not significantly correlated with behavioural scales. Gifted children displayed two opposing trends of sleep instability: more instability involving N1 sleep and less instability involving N2, N3 and REM sleep. More total Stage shifts were correlated with more internalising and externalising problems. The results of this study provide initial evidence of polysomnography-based characteristics of giftedness. Further studies are needed to explore common pathways linking sleep alterations and maladaptive behaviours in children with giftedness.
神经系统的独特性、适应不良行为以及非典型的睡眠模式被认为是天赋的定义特征，但这一点几乎没有得到实证支持。我们研究了天赋儿童和正常发育儿童的多导睡眠图记录的睡眠以及适应不良行为的特征。还研究了睡眠宏观结构和睡眠不稳定性与天赋儿童适应不良行为的关系。共有 19 名天赋儿童（74%为男孩）和 17 名正常发育儿童（76%为男孩）年龄在 6-12 岁之间。天赋是根据 Renzulli 的三因素定义确定的。微觉醒指数、睡眠期间的觉醒次数和整个夜间睡眠阶段之间的阶段转换次数被计算为睡眠不稳定性参数。适应不良行为使用儿童行为检查表进行评估。我们发现，与正常发育儿童相比，天赋儿童的 N1 期和 N3 期明显增加。更多的 N1 期睡眠与更多的外向问题相关，更少的 N3 期睡眠与更多的内向问题相关。天赋儿童的 REM 睡眠也更多，但这与行为量表没有显著相关性。天赋儿童表现出两种相反的睡眠不稳定性趋势：更多涉及 N1 睡眠的不稳定性和更少涉及 N2、N3 和 REM 睡眠的不稳定性。更多的总阶段转换与更多的内外向问题相关。这项研究的结果提供了基于多导睡眠图的天赋特征的初步证据。需要进一步研究探索睡眠改变和天赋儿童适应不良行为之间的共同途径。
