The sleep and mental health of gifted children: A prospective, longitudinal, community cohort study

ABSTRACT

Prior research provides mixed findings on the prevalence of sleep problems and mental health difficulties experienced by gifted children, with findings largely based on studies of small clinical samples. In a large, prospective, longitudinal, community cohort, the current study aimed to examine parent report of child sleep problems at ages 1, 2, 3 and 11, and child mental health difficulties at ages 5, 7 and 11 years, in gifted (IQ ≥ 120; n = 192) compared to non-gifted children (IQ < 120; n = 1015). Parents completed questionnaires about their child’s sleep and mental health difficulties, and children’s intelligence was assessed at age 7. There were no significant differences between gifted and non-gifted children on prevalence of sleep problems at any age. Gifted children had significantly fewer symptoms of mental health difficulties than non-gifted children at multiple time points and showed 66% reduced odds for having mental health difficulties in the clinical range at 11 years of age. This study found no evidence that gifted children experience more sleep problems or more mental health difficulties than their peers during childhood.

KEYWORDS:

• Intelligence
• mental health
• sleep

Acknowledgments

We thank the families who have generously given their time to participate in the Early Language in Victoria Study.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicting interests to disclose. The funding organizations are independent of all researchers and had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in the decision to submit the article for publication or in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (237106, 9436958, 1041947), and by small grants from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University. FC was supported by a Melbourne Children’s LifeCourse postdoctoral fellowship, funded by Royal Children's Hospital Foundation grant (#2018-984). Research at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute is supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program.

Notes on contributors

Fallon Cook

Fallon Cook, PhD, is a LifeCourse postdoctoral fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and an Honorary Senior Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Australia. Fallon leads a program of research examining sleep and regulation during infancy and early childhood. She is interested in the longitudinal outcomes of children with sleep difficulties and aims to develop and test new approaches for the early detection and treatment of behavioural sleep problems.

Danielle Hippmann

Danielle Hippmann, BA, MTeach, MEd (Gifted Education), is an Enrichment and Extension teacher at The Kings School in Sydney, Australia. She is interested in developing new approaches for tailoring the curriculum for gifted and talented students that will support student learning and wellbeing.

Emina Omerovic

Emina Omerovic, BSc, MClAud, is a registered Audiologist and Research Assistant in the Intergenerational Health research group at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She carries out longitudinal data analysis to examine the influence of various early life factors on child health, development and wellbeing.