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Lower socioeconomic status is related to sleep/wake problems in early childhood, however, the effects are not uniform and there is a need to understand individual differences. We examined whether maternal mindful parenting moderated this association. Participants were 172 mothers of 2- to 5-year-old children (children's M age = 3.30 years) from diverse economic and ethnic backgrounds. Socioeconomic status was indexed using income-to-needs ratio. Mothers reported on children's sleep/wake problems (insufficient sleep duration, night wakings, daytime sleepiness) and two dimensions of mindful parenting (mindful discipline, being in the moment with the child). Higher levels of maternal mindful parenting buffered the extent to which lower socioeconomic status conferred risk for children's insufficient sleep duration and night wakings. Findings build on the literature to consider sleep in the family context and illustrate that positive parenting characteristics may reduce risk for sleep/wake problems in lower socioeconomic contexts.

Summary: Recipients of interpartner aggression often experience internalizing symptoms. However, individual differences exist, and elucidation of factors that attenuate or exacerbate risk are needed to explicate relations and better inform interventions aimed at reducing mental health sequelae of interpartner aggression. Sleep problems compromise coping abilities and are known to exacerbate risk for mental health problems in the context of family risk. We examined whether sleep problems moderated the extent to which the recipients of interpartner aggression experience internalizing symptoms over time. At the first wave, 194 couples participated (M age [women] = 41.81 years, SD = 5.85; M age [men] = 43.75 years, SD = 6.74; 71% White/European American, 26% Black/African American, 3% other race/ethnicity). Two years later, couples returned for a second wave. Psychological and physical forms of interpartner aggression were measured using self‐ and partner‐reports. Sleep duration (minutes) and sleep quality (efficiency) were derived using actigraphy, and subjective sleep/wake problems were also assessed. Individuals self‐reported on their own internalizing symptoms. After controlling for autoregressive effects, sleep moderated the extent to which the recipients of interpartner aggression experienced internalizing symptoms longitudinally. Lower sleep efficiency and more subjective sleep/wake problems among women exacerbated the extent to which interpartner aggression forecasted their internalizing symptoms. Lower sleep efficiency among men magnified relations between interpartner aggression and their internalizing symptoms. Findings help understand the multiplicative influence that family risk and sleep problems have on mental health over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child sleep and adjustment research with community samples is on the rise with a recognized need of explicating this association. We examined reciprocal relations between children's sleep and their internalizing and externalizing symptoms using 3 waves of data spanning 5 years. Participants included 176 children at Time 1 (M = 8.68 years; 69% European American, 31% African American), 141 children at Time 2 (M = 10.70 years), and 113 children at Time 3 (M = 13.60 years). Children were from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Sleep was measured subjectively via self-reports and objectively via actigraphy and adjustment was assessed with parent and child reports. Cross-lagged panel models indicated that reduced sleep duration and worse sleep quality predicted greater depression, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms over time. To a lesser extent but supportive of reciprocal relations, adjustment predicted changes in sleep. Findings illustrate the reciprocal nature of relations between sleep and adjustment difficulties in otherwise typically developing youth.

We investigated longitudinal relations between children's sleep and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger/aggression. We expected that initial sleep problems and increases in these problems over time would be associated with worse adjustment outcomes. The study had 3 waves with 1-year lags. At Time 1 [T1], 128 girls and 123 boys (M age = 8.23 years, SD = 0.73) participated; M ages at Time 2 (T2) and Time 3 (T3) = 9.31 years (SD = 0.79) and 10.28 (SD = 0.99). The sample was diverse in relation to economic adversity and ethnicity (66% European and 34% African American). Higher initial levels and increases in sleep/wake problems or sleepiness over 3 years predicted higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms at T3, controlling for T1 levels. These associations were more pronounced for girls, African American children, and children from lower socioeconomic status homes. Findings build on a small body of literature addressing links between sleep and adjustment longitudinally and highlight the importance of adequate sleep for children's optimal development, especially within the broader sociocultural milieu.

Background: We used a multi-method and multi-informant design to identify developmental pathways through which parental depressive symptoms contribute to children's sleep problems. Environmental factors including adult inter-partner conflict and parent-child conflict were considered as process variables of this relation. Methods: An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of children (n = 268) participated (M age = 9.44 years, SD = 8.61 months). Children wore actigraphs for 7 consecutive nights and also reported on their sleep problems. Results: Higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were associated with children's sleep/wake problems. Higher levels of paternal depressive symptoms were associated with shorter time in bed and fewer sleep minutes. Inter-partner conflict and parent-child conflict were mechanisms of effects in the associations between maternal depressive symptoms and children's actigraphy-based and self-reported sleep problems. Conclusions: Findings build on this scant literature and highlight the importance of identifying pathways of risk and familial and environmental influences on children's sleep problems.

Background: We examined ecological (family socioeconomic status (SES)) and bioregulatory (sleep duration, sleep efficiency) moderators of the link between maternal psychological control and children's vulnerability to internalizing symptoms. Method: A large socioeconomically diverse sample of third graders (N = 141) and their mothers participated. Sleep was examined via actigraphy for one week. Psychological control and internalizing symptoms (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, pre-sleep arousal) were examined through children's reports. Results: For children with poorer sleep, lower SES, or a combination of the two, maternal psychological control was positively related to depressive symptoms; this association was not evident for children with both better sleep and higher SES. Further, maternal psychological control, sleep efficiency, and SES interacted to predict both anxiety symptoms and pre-sleep arousal. Children were protected from the negative effects of psychological control when they were from higher SES families and had higher sleep efficiency; for all other groups of children, psychological control was associated with anxiety symptoms. A similar but less robust pattern of results was found for pre-sleep arousal. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of children's bioregulatory processes within the socioeconomic context for an enhanced understanding of children's vulnerability to internalizing problems in the context of maternal psychological control.

Relations were examined between children's sleep and their externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Longitudinal relations were examined when children were in 3rd (T1) and 5th (T2) grades, and cross-sectional relations were assessed at T2. Participants included 176 children at T1 (M = 8.68 years) and 141 children at T2 (M = 10.70 years). Sleep was examined via subjective reports and actigraphy. Children reported on anxiety, self-esteem, and depression symptoms, and parents reported on children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Cross-sectionally and longitudinally, sleep problems were associated with worse adjustment outcomes; African American children or those from lower socioeconomic status homes were at particular risk. Findings highlight the importance of adequate sleep for children's optimal development, especially in the context of ecological risk.

Relations between children's sleep and cognitive functioning were examined over 2 years, and race and socioeconomic status were assessed as moderators of effects. Third-grade African American and European American children (N = 166; M = 8.72 years) participated at Time 1 and again 2 years later (N = 132). At both Time 1 and Time 2, sleep was examined via self-report and actigraphy. Children were administered selected tests from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities, and Stanford Achievement Test scores were obtained from schools. Children's sleep was related to intellectual ability and academic achievement. Results build substantially on an emerging literature supportive of the importance of sleep in children.

Reciprocal relations between sleep and adjustment were investigated. Participants included 246 adolescents (M = 15.80 years; 67.5% White, 32.5% Black/African American; 53% female, 47% male) at Time 1 (data collected 2012–2013), 227 at Time 2 (M = 16.78 years) and 215 at Time 3 (M = 17.70 years). Sleep–wake variables were measured with self‐reports (sleepiness) and actigraphy (average sleep minutes and efficiency, variability in sleep minutes and efficiency). Adolescents reported on depression and anxiety symptoms, and parents reported on externalizing problems. Greater variability in sleep duration and efficiency as well as sleepiness predicted adjustment problems (range of R2: 36%–60%). Reciprocal relations were supported mostly for sleepiness (range of R2: 16%–32%). Results help understand bidirectional relations between sleep and adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reciprocal relations between parental problem drinking (PPD) and children's sleep were examined longitudinally, and socioeconomic status was considered as a moderating variable. At Wave 1, 280 children (Mage  = 10.33) and their parent(s) participated, and 275 families returned 1 year later. At both waves, parent(s) reported on PD and children wore actigraphs that measured established sleep parameters. After controlling for autoregressive effects, fathers' PD predicted reduced sleep duration and efficiency in children over time. Supportive of reciprocal effects, more frequent long wake episodes predicted greater PPD. Fathers' PD was a more robust risk factor for lower than higher income children. Results build on a growing literature that has considered children's sleep in a family context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]