Abstract
Despite strong evidence linking sleep to developmental outcomes, the longitudinal relationship between sleep and emotional well-being remains largely unknown. To address this gap in our knowledge, the current study examined sleep in infancy, measured via actigraphy, as a predictor of social-emotional problems in toddlers. A total of 47 children (29 males) were included in this longitudinal study. At time one, actigraphy measures of sleep were obtained from 3- to 4-month-old infants. At time two, parents rated their 18- to 24-month-old toddler’s social-emotional well-being using the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment. Results indicated that boys tended to have higher levels of externalizing behaviors than did girls. Additionally, boys with longer sleep durations also showed lower sleep efficiency. In girls, sleep duration in infancy was a significant predictor of autism spectrum disorder behaviors and approached significance as a predictor of externalizing problems in toddlerhood. Our findings are the first to show a relationship between sleep measured in infancy and autism spectrum disorder symptomatology measured in early childhood. They suggest that the etiology of social-emotional problems may differ between genders and raise the possibility that sleep/wake cycles may be differentially related to autism spectrum disorder symptoms in girls and boys.
Highlights
Newborns spend the majority of their time asleep and undergo significant changes in their sleep/wake cycles during the first few years of life
Less sleep duration in infant girls across a period of 5 days was predictive of higher autism spectrum disorder (ASD) scores on the BITSEA in toddlerhood
These findings are the first to show a longitudinal relationship between sleep in infancy and ASD symptomatology in early childhood
Summary
Newborns spend the majority of their time asleep and undergo significant changes in their sleep/wake cycles during the first few years of life. During the first year of life, daytime sleep decreases, while total wake time increases [1]. Total night time sleep and the length of the longest night time sleep period increase during the first 12 months of life [1]. Sleep continues to consolidate during the second year of life, sleep schedules (e.g., sleep duration) do not change significantly during this time [2]. Sleep problems tend to decline from age four through mid-adolescence. Individual differences persist and remain stable, such that those who have more sleep problems at age four have more sleep problems during mid-adolescence [3]
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