[Relationship between impulsivity and sleep disorders in children aged 6 to 12 years].
OBJECTIVE
To study the relationship between impulsivity and sleep disorders in children.


METHODS
A total of 1 736 children at ages of 6 to 12 years were randomly sampled from five districts of Changsha. Their parents completed the questionnaires about children's sleep conditions and behaviors (using Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version).


RESULTS
Five hundred and fifty-four children (31.9%) had sleep disorders. The incidence of sleep disorders in boys was significantly higher than that in girls (35.4% vs 28.3%; P<0.01). The scores of attentional, motor, and non-planning impulsiveness factors as well as the total score of Barratt Impulsiveness Scale in children with sleep disorders were significantly higher than those in children without (P<0.01). The incidence of daytime sleepiness (35.9%) in children with sleep disorders was significantly higher than that in children without (24.7%; P<0.01). The scores of attentional, motor, and non-planning impulsiveness factors increased with the grade of sleep disorders, and reached a peak at the fifth grade. The children with frequent sleep snoring showed higher scores of above three impulsiveness factors than children without sleep snoring or having rare snoring (P<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Sleep disorders are associated with impulsivity in children. It is thus essential to pay close attentions to children's sleep for children with relatively high impulsiveness.
Department of Pediatrics, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, China. min127910@sina.com
Jie-Min
JM
Li
Zhu-Wen
ZW
Yi
Lin-Yan
LY
Su
Yi-Min
YM
Cai
Xue-Mei
XM
Luo
Ji-Hong
JH
Liu
Yan
Y
Jiang
D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*