0012 Disordered sleep and emotional self-regulation in a prospective cohort of preschool-age children

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Disrupted sleep has been associated with poor emotional self-regulation among preschool-age children cross-sectionally, with few studies examining change over time. Our goal was to examine the prospective association between disrupted sleep and emotional self-regulation over six months among preschool-age children. Methods Analyses included 54 children, age 3-5 years old, who completed their participation in a currently ongoing, 6-month prospective study conducted in a rural area of New England to examine early-life predictors of obesity. Parents completed the 35-item Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), a validated scale to measure problematic sleep, reflecting both reduced sleep quantity and quality. Total scores greater than 41 reflect a clinically-meaningful sleep disorder. Parents also completed the 5-item emotional self-regulation subscale of the validated Child Social Behavior questionnaire. A final score was computed as the average across the 5 items (range 1-7), with higher scores indicating poorer emotional self-regulation. A series of linear regression models were used to examine associations between sleep and emotional self-regulation at baseline, as well as change in self-regulation over six months. Each model was adjusted for child age, sex, and parental education level. Results The sample was largely white, non-Hispanic (87.0%), with 61.1% of male children, 90.7% of accompanying parents as mothers, and 79.6% of parents with a Bachelor’s degree or greater. One-fourth (n=14, 25.9%) of children met the criteria for disordered sleep at baseline. In an adjusted linear regression model, children with disordered sleep at baseline, on average, had worse self-regulation at baseline (beta coefficient=0.90, SE=0.33; p<0.01) and, separately, a greater decrease in self-regulation over six months (beta=0.78, SE=0.30; p=0.01). When further adjusting for disordered sleep at month 6, disordered sleep at baseline remained predictive of a greater decrease in self-regulation over time (beta=1.12; SE=0.41; p<0.01). Conclusion In this preliminary analysis, disordered sleep was associated with poor emotional self-regulation cross-sectionally and a decline in emotional self-regulation over six months. Generalizability is limited because of the high socioeconomic status of the sample. Yet findings suggest that the effects of disordered sleep on emotional self-regulation may manifest within in the preschool-years. Support (If Any) This study was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, grant number K01DK117971.