Sleep and the body mass index and overweight status of children and adolescents

Associations between sleep and the body mass index (BMI) and overweight status of children and adolescents were estimated using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of 2,281 children aged 3–12 years at baseline. Controlling for baseline BMI, children who slept less, went to bed later, or got up earlier at the time of the first assessment had higher BMIs 5 years later and were more likely to be overweight. Child age moderated the relationship between bedtime and BMI. In addition, the study reports nationally representative data on the sleep habits of American children aged 3–18 years. This study underscores the likely importance of sleep on children's physical health and suggests that sleep is important for understanding childhood weight problems.     

Emotional Climate and Behavioral Management during Sleep Time in Early Childhood Education Settings

The majority of children cease napping between 3 and 5 years of age yet, internationally, the allocation of a sleep time during the day for children of this age remains a practice in many early childhood education (ECE) settings. These dual circumstances present a disjuncture between children's sleep needs and center practices, that may cause conflict for staff, increase stress for children and escalate negative emotional climate in the room. Testing this hypothesis requires observation of both the emotional climate and behavioral management used in ECE rooms that extends into the sleep time. This study was the first to apply the Classroom Assessment and Scoring System (CLASS) Pre-K (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) to observe the emotional climate and behavioral management during sleep time. Pilot results indicated that the CLASS Pre-K functioned reliably to measure emotional climate and behavioral management in sleep time. However, new sleep-specific examples of the dimensions used were developed, to help orient fieldworkers to the CLASS Pre-K rating system in the sleep time context. The CLASS was then used to assess emotional climate and behavior management between the non-sleep and sleep time sessions, in 113 ECE rooms in Queensland, Australia. In these rooms 2.114 children were observed. Of these children, 71% did not sleep at any point during the allotted sleep times. There was a significant drop in emotional climate and behavioral management between the non-sleep and sleep-time sessions. Furthermore, the duration of mandated sleep time (a period of time where no activities are provided to non-sleeping children) accounted for significant independent variance in the observed emotional climate during sleep-time. The CLASS Pre-K presents a valuable tool to assess the emotional climate and behavior management during sleep-time and draws attention to the need for further studies of sleep time in ECE settings.     

The Roles of Parental Support and Family Stress in Adolescent Sleep

The current study examines the association between parental support and adolescent sleep under varying levels of family stress. Participants included 316 adolescents (M_age = 16.40 years, 43% male) and their parents (M_age = 45.67 years, 91% mothers) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Both adolescents and parents completed questionnaires and adolescents wore wrist actigraphs and completed self‐reports on their sleep for 7 consecutive days. Results indicated that under contexts of family stress, more parental support was linked to longer sleep duration, less sleep variability, and less time spent awake during the night. Findings suggest that under contexts of family stress, cohesive family relationships may provide a sense of stability and security that is necessary for healthful sleep.     

Within‐Family Relations in Objective Sleep Duration,Quality, and Schedule

The current study examined within‐family relations between mothers’, fathers’, and children's objectively assessed sleep. Participants were 163 children (M_age = 10.45 years; SD = 0.62) and their parents. For 7 nights, families wore actigraphs to assess sleep duration (minutes), quality (efficiency, long wake episode, total wake minutes), and schedule (wake time). A sleep log assessed bedtime. Multilevel models indicated that children's sleep minutes, sleep efficiency, wake minutes, and wake time were associated with fluctuations in their mothers’, but not fathers’, sleep that same night. The duration and quality of mothers’ sleep was associated with both fathers’ and children's sleep that night, whereas fathers’ sleep was positively associated with only mothers’ sleep. Findings highlight the importance of examining sleep within a family context.     

Sleep Tight,Act Right: Negative Affect,Sleep and Behavior Problems During Early Childhood

Temperamental negative affect and insufficient sleep have been independently associated with behavior problems during early childhood. However, it is unknown whether these factors interact to contribute to behavioral difficulties in young children. The current study examined the interactions between temperamental negative affect and both sleep onset time and sleep midpoint, assessed by actigraphy, in predicting externalizing and internalizing behaviors in a sample of 117 children (34–69 months of age). Children with high temperamental negative affect and either later sleep onset time or later sleep midpoint were more likely to exhibit externalizing and internalizing behaviors. These results emphasize the association between temperamental negative affect and behavioral difficulties, particularly for children with insufficient sleep.     

Job-Related Stress and Sleep Disorders Among North Carolina College Presidents

The purpose of this study was threefold. First, the study was to determine the extent of job-related stress among North Carolina community college presidents. Second, the study was to determine the extent of sleep disorders that exist in the target population. And finally, the study was to measure, if any, the relationship between job-related stress, sleep disorders, and stress reduction methods. The findings of the study indicated that the presidents may feel job-related stress in the form of job pressures such as demands, but are less stressed by job-related threats such as a feeling of being overwhelmed. In the area of sleep, the findings suggest that community college presidents are generally sleeping without difficulties. Overall, the scores were on the lower end of the range that indicates better sleep quality. The study results also indicated that all respondents except one used some method of stress reduction.     

Gender Discrimination,Perceived School Unfairness,Depressive Symptoms,and Sleep Duration Among Middle School Girls

The current study examines how gender discrimination by adults in school is linked with depressive symptoms and sleep duration over time in middle school. The main goal is to test one psychological mechanism that can account for such associations: perceived school unfairness. Relying on a racially-ethnically diverse sample of girls (N = 2,718, M_age = 13.01, SD_age = 0.39) from 26 middle schools, multilevel mediation analyses revealed that girls who experienced school-based gender discrimination by an adult in seventh grade reported higher levels of perceived school unfairness in eighth grade. Moreover, perceived unfairness, in turn, was associated with more depressive symptoms and shorter sleep durations by eighth grade. Implications of changes in adolescent girls’ sleep and mood related to their experiences of gender discrimination are discussed.     

Coping, Stress, and the Psychological Symptoms of Children of Divorce: A Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Study

The authors conducted a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal study of stress, coping, and psychological symptoms in children of divorce. The sample consisted of 258 children (mean age = 10.1; SD = 1.2), of whom 196 were successfully followed 5.5 months later. A 4-dimensional model of coping was found using confirmatory factor analysis, with the factors being active coping, avoidance, distraction, and support. In the cross-sectional model avoidance coping partially mediated the relations between negative events and symptoms while active coping moderated the relations between negative events and conduct problems. In the longitudinal model significant negative paths were found from active coping and distraction Time 1 to internalizing symptoms Time 2, while Time 1 support coping had a positive path coefficient to Time 2 depression. Positive paths were found between negative events at Time 1 and anxiety at Time 2, and between all symptoms at Time 1 and negative events at Time 2.     

Maternal Sleep-Related Cognitions and Infant Sleep: A Longitudinal Study From Pregnancy Through the 1st Year

Infant sleep is a major source of concern for many parents. The aims of this longitudinal study were to assess: (a) the development of sleep patterns among infants, (b) the development of maternal cognitions regarding infant sleep, and (c) the relations between these domains during the 1st year of life. Eighty-five mothers were recruited during pregnancy and completed a questionnaire aimed at assessing maternal sleep-related cognitions. After delivery (at 1, 6, and 12 months) sleep was assessed using actigraphy and sleep logs, and maternal cognitions were reassessed. The findings demonstrated significant predictive and concomitant links between maternal cognitions and infant sleep. Maternal soothing behaviors mediated the relations between these domains.     

Teacher Stress Related to Student Mental Health Promotion: the Match Between Perceived Demands and Competence to Help Students with Mental Health Problems

The present study highlights teacher stress related to student mental health promotion through the relationship between perceived competence, perceived responsibility and negative emotions. Data were derived from a mixed methods design, utilizing three focus group interviews (n = 15), followed by survey research (n = 771) amongst Norwegian K–12 teachers. The results suggest that teacher stress emerges chiefly from a mismatch between feeling responsible for and being able to help students with mental health problems. The data also point to the impact of time constraints in school context. Finally, the findings reveal significantly higher levels of perceived responsibility and negative emotions amongst female teachers, and significantly lower levels of perceived responsibility amongst teachers at higher grades.     

School Schedules Affect Sleep Timing in Children and Contribute to Partial Sleep Deprivation

Although the environmental light/dark cycle is the main zeitgeber for the human species, the social cues seem to be important in the synchronization of circadian rhythms. In Brazil, the existence of two school schedules—one with only morning classes (MG) and other with only afternoon classes (AG)—allows the investigation of the effect of school activities on light exposure and sleep/wake patterns in children. Forty‐seven children wore wrist actimeters for a week for registration of light and sleep data. MG children presented shorter sleep duration on school days than the children from the AG. The results showed that during school days MG children were exposed to bright light earlier in the morning when compared to AG children. Nevertheless, there were no differences in light exposure after sunset. The results reflect the role of school schedules and artificial light in shaping light exposure, and its association with sleep timing in children.     

Sleep and adjustment in preschool children: sleep diary reports by mothers relate to behavior reports by teachers

Prior literature suggests that there may be relations between children's sleep disorders or inadequate amounts of sleep and behavioral adjustment. Most relevant studies concern clinical populations, however, and relatively few concern community populations. Moreover, previous studies have not addressed empirically the possible role of family functioning as a factor in the relation between children's sleep and adjustment. The present study, conducted in a predominantly low-income, community sample (N = 202), measured 4- to 5-year-old children's sleep patterns through daily logs kept by mothers, and measured family stress and parenting practices through detailed, multifaceted interviews and incidental observations of parent-child interactions. Children's adjustment, both positive and negative, was measured through preschool teacher reports on multiple occasions. A structural equation model showed that disrupted child sleep patterns (variability in reported amount of sleep, variability in bedtime, and lateness of bedtime) predicted less optimal adjustment in preschool, even after considering the roles of family stress and family management practices.     

Sleep Facilitates Coping: Moderated Mediation of Daily Sleep,Ethnic/Racial Discrimination,Stress Responses,and Adolescent Well-Being

Using a daily diary design and actigraphy sleep data across 2 weeks among 256 ethnic/racial minority adolescents (M_age = 14.72; 40% Asian, 22% Black, 38% Latinx; 2,607 days), this study investigated how previous-night sleep (duration, quality) moderated the same-day associations between ethnic/racial discrimination and stress responses (rumination, problem solving, family/peer support seeking) to predict daily well-being (mood, somatic symptoms, life satisfaction). On days when adolescents experienced greater discrimination, if they slept longer and better the previous night, adolescents engaged in greater active coping (problem solving, peer support seeking), and subsequently had better well-being. Adolescents also ruminated less when they slept longer the previous night regardless of discrimination. Findings highlight the role of sleep in helping adolescents navigate discrimination by facilitating coping processes.     

Examining the dynamics of mathematics anxiety,perceived cost,and achievement: A control-value theory approach

Concerns about the influence of students’ perceived negative consequences of engagement in a task (i.e., cost) on their emotions, motivation, and cognition have increased in the last decade. The use of longitudinal models is needed to provide new insights into the role of perceived cost in mathematics learning. Grounded in the control-value theory, this study examined cross-lagged relations of mathematics anxiety, perceived cost, and mathematics achievement. The participants (N = 335) reported their mathematics anxiety and perceived cost four times during Grades 7 and 8, and their mathematics grades were attained from their school records. Cross-lagged panel model analysis revealed evidence of a long-term positive reciprocal relationship between mathematics anxiety and effort/emotional cost, a gradually diminished relationship between effort/emotional cost and mathematics performance, and a positive achievement to anxiety link during the transition between grade levels. Moreover, mathematics performance is a distal predictor of mathematics anxiety through effort/emotional cost rather than a proximal predictor or an outcome of anxiety. This study also clarified the distinction in the central role of effort/emotional versus opportunity cost in the interrelatedness of mathematics anxiety and performance, where the latter failed to demonstrate significant paths. Specific timing for interventions was discerned. Early cost prevention interventions along with considerations of academic achievement to alleviate both anxiety and perceived effort/emotional are highlighted as crucial for a positive high school mathematics experience.     

Linking ethnic/racial discrimination to adolescent mental health: Sleep disturbances as an explanatory pathway

Ethnic/racial discrimination is associated with negative psychosocial outcomes, and this study considered sleep disturbance as a mediating pathway. Employing a combination of daily diary and biannual surveys, multilevel structural equation models estimated the indirect effects of sleep/wake concerns on negative, anxious, and positive mood, rumination, and somatic symptoms. In a sample of 350 urban Asian (74% Chinese, 8% Korean, 4% Indian, 1% Filipinx, 1% Vietnamese, and 12% other), Black, and Latinx (25% Dominican, 24% South American, 22% Mexican, 15% Puerto Rican, 5% Central American, and 9% other) youth (M = 14.27 years, 69% female, 77% U.S. born, 76% monoethnic/racial, data collected from 2015 to 2018), there was evidence for sleep disturbances mediating the impact of ethnic/racial discrimination on adjustment. Nighttime disturbance, daytime dysfunction, and daytime sleepiness evidenced partial or full mediation for daily- and person-level outcomes (υ = 0.1%–17.9%). Reciprocal associations between sleep disturbances and negative mood and rumination were also observed.     

高中生睡眠质量和生存质量的相关研究

目的探讨高中生睡眠质量与生存质量的关系,以关注睡眠质量,提高高中生的生存质量。方法采用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表和高中生生存质量量表对1227名高中生进行问卷调查。结果 27.2%的高中生睡眠质量差,主要表现为白天功能紊乱、睡眠持续性、主观睡眠质量和睡眠潜伏期四个方面。高中生的生存质量得分较低,主要是心理维度和学校子量表。高中生的睡眠质量和生存质量呈显著负相关,主观睡眠质量、白天功能紊乱、睡眠紊乱、睡眠潜伏期和睡眠质量指数对高中生的生存质量具有显著的负向预测作用。结论:改善高中生的睡眠质量,关注睡眠健康,提高生存质量。     

Changes in Stress Perception and Coping During Adolescence: The Role of Situational and Personal Factors

The present study investigated the interplay between developmental changes in stress and coping during early and late adolescence. Using a longitudinal design, stress perception and coping styles of 200 adolescents in 7 different stressful situations were investigated. Multilevel piecewise latent growth curve models showed that stress perception decreased during late adolescence, whereas active and internal coping increased continuously from ages 12 to 19. Adolescents' high levels of perceived stress in a particular situation were associated with a high level of active coping but a low level of internal coping in that same situation. Withdrawal was associated with high levels of perceived stress, independent of situation. Developmental changes in individual adolescents' stress perception and coping were in most cases situation specific.     

Sleep and Temperament: Maternal Perceptions of Temperament of Sleep-Disturbed Toddlers

Research findings: In order to assess the relations between sleep problems and temperament in infants, temperament ratings of 63 toddlers who presented with night waking problems were compared to those of 35 non-referred toddlers. An objective method to assess sleep patterns was used to validate the distinct sleep patterns of the two groups prior to the comparison of the temperament scales. Measures included: Toddler Temperament Questionnaire (TTQ) and the child's scales of the Parental Stress Index (PSI). On the TTQ, Night Wakers were rated as having lower sensory thresholds compared to the controls. Night Wakers were also rated as less adaptive than the controls. On the PSI, Night Wakers were rated as more distractible; less reinforcing; less adaptive and more demanding. Practice or policy: The results suggest that sleep disturbances in early childhood are closely associated with negative maternal perceptions of child temperament. It is proposed that early detection and treatment of sleep problems during early childhood may prevent some of the associated negative behavioral consequences.     

Sleep and Temperament: Maternal Perceptions of Temperament of Sleep-Disturbed Toddlers

Research findings: In order to assess the relations between sleep problems and temperament in infants, temperament ratings of 63 toddlers who presented with night waking problems were compared to those of 35 non-referred toddlers. An objective method to assess sleep patterns was used to validate the distinct sleep patterns of the two groups prior to the comparison of the temperament scales. Measures included: Toddler Temperament Questionnaire (TTQ) and the child's scales of the Parental Stress Index (PSI). On the TTQ, Night Wakers were rated as having lower sensory thresholds compared to the controls. Night Wakers were also rated as less adaptive than the controls. On the PSI, Night Wakers were rated as more distractible; less reinforcing; less adaptive and more demanding. Practice or policy: The results suggest that sleep disturbances in early childhood are closely associated with negative maternal perceptions of child temperament. It is proposed that early detection and treatment of sleep problems during early childhood may prevent some of the associated negative behavioral consequences.