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Parents' sleep quality affects perception of child's sleep quality

When parents experience issues sleeping, they may overreport similar problems in their children, and physicians should note parental sleep quality in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric sleep difficulties, according to data published in Pediatrics.

“Pediatric medicine is characterized by the use of second-hand information when inquiring about the patient’s medical history and current symptoms,” Hanni Rönnlund, MD, of the department of pediatrics at the University of Turku, in Finland, and colleagues wrote. “Parental reports are a convenient source of information, but the use of second-hand data allows for the possibility of bias. … This kind of distortion can become problematic in medical conditions in which the diagnoses rely heavily on the description given by the parents, such as pediatric sleep disturbances.”

To determine the effect of sleeping problems among parents on their perceptions of their child’s sleep, the researchers conducted a 1-week actigraph recording of 100 children aged 2 to 6 years, recruited through 16 day care centers. In addition, parents maintained a sleep diary and applied the Jenkins’ sleep scale to their own sleep, and completed a 12-item General Health Questionnaire and a survey on demographic factors. Parents also completed the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC), reporting any sleep issues they perceive their child to be having.

The researchers applied linear regression analyses to examine the association of the parental Jenkins’ score on their child’s total SDSC score. They also performed analyses for three of the SDSC subscales, including disorders of excessive somnolence, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, and sleep-wake transition disorders.

According to the researchers, parents with sleeping problems reported sleeping issues among their children more frequently. The association was unexplained by the actigraph measures of the children’s actual sleep, such as 24-hour sleep time and sleep efficiency, parental mental health problems, or any other tested potential factor. The researchers found similar associations for the three analyzed subscales.

“It seems that tired parents present an observation bias with regard to their child’s sleep compared with parents not suffering from sleeping problems,” Rönnlund and colleagues wrote. “Therefore, in the field of pediatric sleep disorders, future diagnostic methods and treatments should take into consideration not only the examined child but also the whole family, including the parents.” – by Jason Laday

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.