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Background: Nocturnal Enuresis (NE) is one of the most prevalent childhood disorders and has significant negative psychosocial impact on the child and family. Objective: To assess the characteristics of children with NE and trends over a 15-year period. Methods: The study included 18,677 children [11,205 (60%) boys and 7,472 (40%) girls] referred to a network of clinics specializing in treatment of voiding problems (Age range: 4-12 years; Mean age = 7.06) between the years 1995-2009. We analyzed socio-demographic characteristics and trends over time using a standard questionnaire administered in the clinics. Results: Over the course of the 15-year period, children were referred to treatment at a younger age (Mean age 1st period = 7.52, Mean age 2nd period = 7.12, Mean age 3rd period = 6.71) and the likelihood of referrals of younger children (4-5 years) increased (1st period = 24.5%; 2nd period = 33.6%; and 3rd period = 41.9%). More children were referred during winter than summer or transition seasons. The higher prevalence of boys was maintained across this period. In addition, girls had 34% higher chance to suffer from primary NE compared to boys and had 12% higher chance to suffer from NE only compared to boys. Birth order and children's age predicted NE type (primary/secondary) and in addition to family size also predicted enuresis pattern (NE only/combined NE and Diurnal Enuresis). Conclusions: The findings of this largest study on children referred for NE treatment provides a wider understanding of important associated factors to this phenomenon.

Objective: The Child Behavior Checklist is sometimes used to assess sleep disturbance despite not having been validated for this purpose. This study examined associations between the Child Behavior Checklist sleep items and other measures of sleep. Method: Participants were 122 youth (61% female, aged 7 through 17 years) with anxiety disorders (19%), major depressive disorder (9%), both anxiety and depression (26%), or a negative history of any psychiatric disorder (46%). Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist and children completed a sleep diary, wore actigraphs for multiple nights, and spent 2 nights in the sleep laboratory. Partial correlations ([pr], controlling for age, gender and diagnostic status) were used to examine associations. Results: Child Behavior Checklist sleep items were associated with several other sleep variables. For example, "trouble sleeping" correlated significantly with sleep latency assessed by both diary (pr(113) = 0.25, p = 0.008) and actigraphy (pr(105) = 0.21, p = 0.029). Other expected associations were not found (e.g., "sleeps more than most kids" was not significantly correlated with EEG-assessed total sleep time: pr(84) = 0.12, p = 0.258). Conclusions: Assessing sleep using the Child Behavior Checklist exclusively is not ideal. Nonetheless, certain Child Behavior Checklist items (e.g., "trouble sleeping") may be valuable. Although the Child Behavior Checklist may provide a means of examining some aspects of sleep from existing datasets that do not include other measures of sleep, hypotheses generated from such analyses need to be tested using more rigorous measures of sleep. (Contains 3 tables.)

The objective is to examine underlying associations between childhood fears, behavior problems and neurobehavioral functioning (NBF) in school-age children. Healthy, regular school children (N = 135), from second, fourth and sixth grade classes were assessed. Data regarding children's fears and behavioral problems were obtained with the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children, the Child Behavior Checklist, and NBF was assessed using a computerized neurobehavioral evaluation system. Significant correlations between childhood fears and NBF measures and somatic complaints were found. Children who reported higher levels of fears demonstrated lower working memory span (r = 0.24, p less than 0.05), lower motor speed (r = -0.23, p less than 0.05), and had more somatic complaints (r = 0.20, p less than 0.05). Furthermore, younger children reported less fears than older ones and girls reported more fears than boys. These results highlight significant association between childhood fears, NBF and behavior problems in a non-clinical group children. Lower working memory span is an important component of executive control that may be an underlying factor in fears and anxiety in children.

Infant sleep is a major source of concern for many parents. The aims of this longitudinal study were to assess: (a) the development of sleep patterns among infants, (b) the development of maternal cognitions regarding infant sleep, and (c) the relations between these domains during the 1st year of life. Eighty-five mothers were recruited during pregnancy and completed a questionnaire aimed at assessing maternal sleep-related cognitions. After delivery (at 1, 6, and 12 months) sleep was assessed using actigraphy and sleep logs, and maternal cognitions were reassessed. The findings demonstrated significant predictive and concomitant links between maternal cognitions and infant sleep. Maternal soothing behaviors mediated the relations between these domains.

Assessed sleep patterns, sleep disruptions, and sleepiness of second-, fourth-, and sixth-graders. Found that older children had more delayed sleep onset times and increased reported daytime sleepiness than younger; girls spent more time in sleep than boys and had increased percentage of motionless sleep; and 18 percent of children had fragmented sleep. Identified parental correlates of child's sleep-wake measures. (Author/KB)