Infant sleep: Perinatal determinants and the role of parental behaviours in their association with externalizing problems
Principal Investigator : Christine Laganière1,2,3
Co-Investigators : Célia Matte-Gagné1,2,3,4, Amélie Petitclerc1,2,3,4
- Centre de recherche universitaire sur les jeunes et les familles (CRUJeF)
- École de psychologie, UL;
- GRIP
- Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec–Université Laval
Study summary :
Several perinatal determinants have been associated with infant sleep, including birth weight and length, prenatal exposure to alcohol, maternal perinatal depression, maternal sleep during pregnancy, and breastfeeding. However, no previous study has simultaneously assessed the contribution of these factors while considering the influence of prenatal factors at multiple time points during pregnancy.
Infant sleep is crucial for healthy development, including physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Unfortunately, among school-aged children, shorter sleep duration and greater sleep fragmentation are associated with externalizing problems. In early childhood, sleep duration and night wakings are among parents’ main concerns. Moreover, although there appears to be an association between parental behaviours and children’s sleep problems, a systematic review reported that too few longitudinal studies have been conducted on this topic, particularly among toddlers.
The objectives of this project are to investigate: (1) the perinatal determinants of infant sleep at 6 months; (2) the prospective association between sleep duration and sleep fragmentation at 6 months and externalizing problems at 18 months; (3) the mediating role of sleep at 6 months in the associations between perinatal determinants of infant sleep (identified in Objective 1) and externalizing problems at 18 months; and (4) the moderating role of parental behaviours in the associations identified between sleep and externalizing problems.