title: Longitudinal associations between marital instability and child sleep problems across infancy and toddlerhood in adoptive families.
abstract: This study examined the longitudinal association between marital instability and child sleep problems at ages 9 and 18 months in 357 families with a genetically unrelated infant adopted at birth. This design eliminates shared genes as an explanation for similarities between parent and child. Structural equation modeling indicated that T1 marital instability predicted T2 child sleep problems, but T1 child sleep problems did not predict T2 marital instability. This result was replicated when models were estimated separately for mothers and fathers. Thus, even after controlling for stability in sleep problems and marital instability and eliminating shared genetic influences on associations using a longitudinal adoption design, marital instability prospectively predicts early childhood sleep patterns.
authors.affiliation: Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene, OR 97401, USA. annem@oslc.org
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mannering
authors.forename: Gordon T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Harold
authors.forename: Leslie D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Leve
authors.forename: Katherine H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Shelton
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Rand D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Conger
authors.forename: Jenae M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Neiderhiser
authors.forename: Laura V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Scaramella
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reiss
mesh_terms: D000300:Adoption / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D013694:Temperament; D014481:United States