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Irregular bedtimes increased behavioral difficulties in young children
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Inconsistent bedtimes can have a negative effect on children’s behavior, especially early in life, according to researchers from the University College London.
“There was a clear dose-response pattern with incremental worsening in behavioral scores as exposure to not having regular bedtime increased,” the researcher wrote in Pediatrics. “For children who changed from not having to having regular bedtimes, there were clear improvements in behavioral scores.”
The study included 10,230 children aged 7 years from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Data on bedtime were collected at age 3, 5 and 7 years. Behavioral difficulty scores, as reported by mothers and teachers, were evaluated.
Mothers and teachers reported a worsening of scores for children who did not have regular bedtimes compared with those who always had regular bedtimes (P<.001). Participants who went from not having a regular bedtime at age 3 years to having a regular bedtime at age 7 years showed an improvement in behavior scores (P=.032). There was a bigger improvement in behavior scores for children who did not have a regular bedtime at age 5 years to having a regular bedtime at age 7 years (P=.005).
Conversely, children aged 3 years who had a regular bedtime and went to not having a regular bedtime at age 7 years showed only slight declines in their behavior scores (P=.684). The effect, however, was worse on participants going from a regular bedtime at age 5 years to not having one at age 7 years (P=.036).
“Or analysis suggests that effects of inconsistent bedtimes are reversible, thus presenting potential opportunities for interventions,” the researchers wrote. “For example, screening for disruptions to bedtime schedules could be built into routine primary health care consultations. However, more research is needed to elucidate the drivers of bedtime routines because identifying such influences will help in the development of effective interventions. Furthermore, family routines can be difficult when parents are working long and potentially unsociable hours, so policy development is needed to better support families to provide conditions in which young children can flourish.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by a grant from the UK Economic and Social Research Council.
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