ASU researchers helping children — and their parents — sleep better at night
Arizona State University researchers have traveled to families across the state to study children's sleep patterns. Findings from the work can be used by parents to help their children get better sleep. Photo by Richard Stachmann/Unsplash
Sleep is more than just what happens between bedtime and waking; it affects how children develop and how children and adults alike handle stress and respond to illness.
There are many variables from our daily lives and how our bodies work that intersect and affect how long and how well we sleep.
That's why for years Arizona State University researchers have been traveling to family’s homes to study factors that affect stress and sleep. The real-word data they have collected and analyzed has led to findings that parents can use to help improve sleep patterns for their children — and maybe even themselves.
“There are lots of differences among individuals in how long they sleep; some people only need a few hours, while others need much more. Sleep affects so many aspects of our lives — from brain development in children through adolescence and into adulthood, and how well our immune system works," said Leah Doane, professor and chair of the ASU Department of Psychology and leader of the Adolescent Stress and Emotion Lab.
"We are working to understand how environmental context influences sleep so we can promote health and well-being."
This research is part of the Arizona Twin Project, a long-term study of mental health, stress, sleep and pain in twins living throughout Arizona. The project is co-led by founder Kathyrn Lemery-Chalfant, a professor of psychology; Mary Davis, also a professor of psychology; and Doane. It has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2015.
Tangible and intangible aspects of home life impact children’s sleep
The noise and darkness levels in a child’s bedroom are important factors affecting how well children sleep, but they are not the most influential factors.
Eight-year-old children and their parents participated in an intensive, weeklong assessment of sleep quantity and quality. The parents completed daily questionnaires about their child’s physical health, and each child wore an activity-tracking watch. The bracelet tracked how long it took children to fall asleep and the quality of their sleep, or how long they slept without waking.
ASU researchers also collected information on family routines, parent-child relationships, emotional climate in the home, what kinds of resources and learning materials were available to the children, extracurricular activities and physical details of the home.
It was determined that the combination of all aspects of the home environment — the physical environment, the level of autonomy given to the children and the quality of parenting — determined the quality of the children’s sleep.
Related story: ASU researchers identify potential target to improve sleep in children
Screen time before bed can mean less sleep for children
Researchers also found that, because some young children struggle to regulate their emotions, watching television or using a tablet device in the hour before bedtime could be disruptive.
Results found that children slept an average of eight hours a night and used media before bed for an average of five nights during the study week. Overall, children who did not use media before bed during the study week slept longer and went to bed earlier than children who used media. When participants who struggled with emotion regulation consistently used media in the hour before bed, it shortened their sleep by approximately 40 minutes; this is because children in that category might find it challenging to switch their attention from watching media to calming down and falling asleep.
“Instead of parents wondering how to help their child better regulate their behavior, they can try to focus on creating more consistent sleep and media-use schedules,” Doane said.
Related story: Bedtime media use linked to less sleep in children who struggle to self-regulate behavior
The interplay of stress and sleep
How we experience stress varies widely.
It can happen when we are preparing for a final exam or stuck in traffic. Sometimes it is short-lived, and other times, stress goes on for so long that it becomes the new norm.
Stress is not always negative — it can energize us and even help enhance performance. But when it’s prolonged over a period of time, it can turn into a problem.
“In recent history, what has really become the issue is when the stress response doesn't shut off,” said Doane, whose research examines the interactions among stress, sleep and mental health.
Stress and sleep are strongly linked — sometimes in a reciprocal relationship. Lack of sleep impacts a person’s ability to perform daily activities — whether at home, work or school — and problems caused by underperforming keeps people up at night.
Doane says sleep issues are often a part of the college experience, especially for those whose schedules vary from day to day.
“Many students who wake up for a 10 a.m. class one day and a 1 p.m. class the next day are literally putting themselves through an East Coast-West Coast jet lag on a daily basis, which takes a toll on their bodies,” she said.
Related story: The science behind chronic stress
Finding ways to recuperate sleep
For her dissertation research, HyeJung Park, an ASU alumna who earned her PhD in psychology, searched for ways to protect children against the negative effects of stress on their sleep. She cast a wide net, examining the neighborhood where the children lived.
What turned out to matter was what parents thought about their neighborhood — whether they perceived it as safe. This influenced how they interacted with their children, which impacted the children’s sleep.
“In terms of contextualizing the environmental factors, we were able to collect socioeconomic, educational and environmental strengths that exist within a neighborhood,” Park said. “Utilizing that as an important context and framing this index as an environmental asset, we were able to unpack the ways in which people could actually engage with their neighborhood and the impact it has on later health.”
About this story
There's a reason research matters. It creates technologies, medicines and other solutions to the biggest challenges we face. It touches your life in numerous ways every day, from the roads you drive on to the phone in your pocket.
The ASU research in this article was possible only because of the longstanding agreement between the U.S. government and America’s research universities. That compact provides that universities would not only undertake the research but would also build the necessary infrastructure in exchange for grants from the government.
That agreement and all the economic and societal benefits that come from such research have recently been put at risk.
Learn about more solutions to come out of ASU research at news.asu.edu/research-matters.
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