Sleep Quantity and Quality in Relation to Daytime Functioning in Children

Abstract

This study examined sleep in relation to daytime functioning in 32 typically developing children (8–12 y). Participants wore actigraphs for one week and then completed tasks designed to measure emotional functioning, short-term memory, working memory, and attention. Results revealed that children slept approximately 1 h less per night than recommended. Older children had shorter sleep durations, higher sleep efficiencies, and later sleep onset times. Examination of the relationships between sleep and daytime functioning revealed that small variations in sleep were significantly associated with differences in emotional functioning and attention. Results highlight the need to increase awareness about the importance of sleep in children.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank all of the children and parents who participated in this study. We would also like to thank Sunny Shaffner, Alyssa Beaudette, Jessica Waldon, Ashton Parker, Sarah Melkert, Abbey Poirier, Jill Tonet, and Kait Sullivan for their help in data collection and administrative support. This research was supported by a Dalhousie Psychiatry Research Fund Grant, Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation Student Research Awards, an IWK Summer Studentship Award, and an IWK Graduate Student Research Award.

Notes

¹The actigraphs failed to record data for two female participants. For part of a larger study we had actigraphy data for these participants when their sleep was restricted by one hour and extended by one hour. We used the averages from these two sleep conditions to estimate baseline sleep variables for these participants and verified that these estimates were in agreement with sleep diary data. Data were analysed with and without these participants. Results were similar, so we retained these data in the final analyses.