0513 Sleep in Children in Need of a Bed and Living in Poverty

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Healthy sleep is important for child development, with youth living in poverty and especially those who do not have a bed at greater risk for sleep issues. This study assessed sleep in school-aged children identified by social services as needing a bed and living in poverty. Methods Fifty-two families (100% living ≤ 100% of the US poverty line) of children ages 8-12 years (M= 9.65; 55.8% girls; 61.5% non-Latinx Black) referred to a non-profit bed provision program completed Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures of child sleep disturbances, sleep-related impairment, and sleep practices prior to bed provision. Comparisons were made to normative data for each measure based on converted T-scores/means. Results T-scores (M = 50; SD = 10) for caregiver and child reported child sleep disturbances (M= 46.81 and 47.22, respectively) and sleep-related impairment (M= 56.82 and 53.33, respectively) fell within the normal range. Although few caregiver-child dyads reported clinically significant (> 1 SD above the mean) child sleep disturbances (7.7% and 10.8%, respectively), 30.7% of caregivers and 27.4% of children reported clinically significant child sleep impairment scores compared to an expected rate of 15.9% from normative data. Regarding sleep practices, few caregiver (11.5%) and child (9.8%) reports of problematic sleep timing and caregiver-rated child bedtime routine inconsistency (13.5%) were > 1 SD above the normative mean. However, 25.5% of youth reported inconsistent bedtime routine scores > 1 SD above the normative mean, while 25.0% of caregivers and 31.4% of youth reported scores > 1 SD above the normative mean for child difficulty falling asleep without caregiver presence at bedtime. The prevalence of these elevated scores were greater than the expected prevalence of 15.9% in normative data. Conclusion Overall, children living in poverty and without an individual bed score similar to normative samples on sleep measures. However, a greater proportion of youth in this sample showed clinically significant sleep impairments and poor sleep practices compared to normative data. Future studies are needed to understand and promote healthy sleep among youth living in poverty. Support (If Any) American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation