The ways in which infants at six months of age are parented exerts an influence on the children’s sleep quality at 18 months which, in turn, is associated with aggressive behavior in early childhood. This finding is reported in, “Parenting and Maternal Reported Child Sleep Problems in Infancy Predict School-Age Aggression and Inattention,” an article published last month (February 2022) in Sleep Health. Lead author Cathi Propper, PhD—an advanced research scientist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG)—conducted the research along with colleagues at UNC, Brown University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Boston University.

The study is one of the first to examine the predictors and sequelae of reported sleep problems in children from 18 months of age to seven years old. The research team examined caregiving predictors of maternal-reported sleep problems and child behavioral and cognitive outcomes in early childhood. To accomplish this, they launched a prospective longitudinal study using a data set of 164 African American and white children from six-months-old to seven years of age, their mothers, and teachers. The researchers examined lab visits, assessments, and questionnaires of a community-based sample and also measured parenting behavior during a free-play task with the infants at six months of age. In addition, the scientists explored reports from the mothers about child sleep problems at six timepoints throughout the study as well as teacher reports of the children’s aggression and attention in kindergarten and second grade.

Latent growth curve modeling revealed that maternal reported sleep problems decreased in children from 18 months to seven years of age. The modeling also shows that harsh-intrusive parenting—in which the mother demonstrated high levels of negativity toward her infant during a play interaction—at six months predicted sleep problems at 18 months. Maternal reported sleep problems at 18 months predicted aggressive behaviors in kindergarten and second grade.

Propper says that study’s findings will strengthen the work of psychologists, health care clinicians, and basic scientists. She and her colleagues also hope their work will inform policy and other practice. Most of all, the research is important for children and their caregivers. “Sleep is important not just so that children and their parents aren’t cranky after bad nights of sleep,” she says. “There are long-term effects of children not getting enough sleep; it’s during sleep that infants’ and toddlers’ brains are really developing. Findings such as these should provide everyone—whether it's healthcare providers, teachers, or parents—a better understanding of the long-term impact of young children not getting enough sleep.”

This set of analyses also demonstrate that sleep can impact future behavior, even into the elementary school years. Research such as this provides new evidence of the importance of sleep in the early years for developing skills that are critical in the classroom and integral for social-emotional and school success. While there has been a theoretical understanding of the importance of sleep for psychological and physical health, there are few longitudinal studies demonstrating this association. Studies such as this one, that examine the consequences of poor sleep on long-term functioning, will inform intervention and prevention efforts to help families learn how to support good quality sleep for their children from the first months of life. This may be particularly important for teaching parents that good quality sleep is integral not only for day-to-day functioning, but that, from the earliest months of life, sleep contributes to brain development and subsequent behavior which could have long term effects on social-emotional and academic success.