Socioemotional behaviour of toddlers influenced by the sleep patterns: Prevalence study.

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of sleep duration and sleep patterns on the social-emotional behaviour of 3-70-month-old children. A Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) and Ages, Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE) were filled by the participants through a web link. The internal consistency of the items used in the questionnaire was analysed using Cronbach's alpha and the effects of sleeping disorders on the likelihood of children having social-emotional problems were performed by binary logistic regressions. The highest level of bedtime resistance and nocturnal awakening was observed in children of 27-32 months of age, while sleep anxiety was maximum in 42-53-month-old children. The logistic regression models were found to be statistically significant with <i>Χ</i> ² (3) =19.556 for 3-8-month-old children, <i>Χ</i> ² (3) =11.874 for 9-14-month-old children, <i>Χ</i> ² (3) =8.928 for 15-20-month-old children, <i>Χ</i> ² (3) =10.061 for 21-26-month-old children and <i>Χ</i> ² (3) =38.358 for 54-70-month-old children, <i>P</i> < 0.0005. Our findings imply that no statistically significant association was observed between sleep duration and social-emotional problems, however, sleep disorders significantly impacted social-emotional behaviour and also night-waking caused social-emotional behavioural issues in preschoolers.