Consistent Bedtime Sleep May Lead to Better Child Emotion: Study Reveals - Video

A study published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics showed that children who followed a consistent bedtime routine and fell asleep at the same time each night displayed better control of their emotions and behavior when they were under stress or working with others. Researchers analyzed sleep and behavior data from 143 six-year-old children in the Penn State study.

When children in the longitudinal INSIGHT study were newborns, their mothers received training in responsive parenting, which involves responding to a child’s emotional and physical needs in a warm, timely, and consistent manner. The new analysis from the study demonstrates continued benefits of regular sleep timing.

“Children who had consistent bedtimes were generally able to regulate their behavior and emotions,” Dadzie, a doctoral student in biobehavioral health, said. “On the other hand, children whose bedtimes and sleep times were all over the place showed more impulsivity and less control.”

Children in the study wore a monitor on their wrists for seven days to measure their nighttime sleep and activity. The devices monitored multiple aspects of sleep — the time the child fell asleep, the time the child woke in the morning, the midpoint of sleep timing, how efficiently the child remained asleep, and the total amount of sleep the child got each night.

These data were compared to the child’s performance on a task designed to see how they responded to frustration. Each child selected a toy that they wanted to play with from a large selection. The chosen toy was placed in a clear box and locked. The child was given a set of keys, none of which unlocked the box. The researchers then observed the child for self-regulated behavior — including self-talk and trying each key — and a lack of self-regulation — including throwing the keys without trying them all. After four minutes, the researchers returned with a working key and allowed the child to play with the toy.

The researchers also watched the children decorate a picture frame with their parents. Children’s behavior was identified as prosocial if they engaged in cooperative activities like sharing and cooperation or antisocial if they destroyed craft supplies or talked back to their parents. Results showed that the more a child’s bedtime varied each night, the worse they regulated their behavior and emotions.

Reference: Dadzie, Adwoa BS*; Master, Lindsay MAS*; Hohman, Emily E. PhD†; Acton, Erika Hernandez PhD‡; Tauriello, Sara MS§; Paul, Ian M. MD, MSc║; Savage, Jennifer S. PhD†,¶; Anzman-Frasca, Stephanie PhD§,**; Buxton, Orfeu M. PhD*. Associations Between Sleep Health and Child Behavior at Age 6 Years in the INSIGHT Study. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics ():10.1097/DBP.0000000000001326, November 8, 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001326