title: Sleep of preschool children with night-time fears.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Night-time fears are very common in preschool and early school years. However, to date, the links between night-time fears and sleep have not been assessed systematically. The aim of this study was to evaluate natural sleep patterns in children with night-time fears, and to assess the association between parental fear-related strategies and children's sleep disruptions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sleep was assessed in a sample of 109 preschool children (64 boys and 45 girls) aged 4-6 years suffering from significant night-time fears, and in 30 healthy controls using actigraphy and parental reports.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Controls slept significantly better than the children with night-time fears. The disrupted sleep patterns of the children with night-time fears were reflected in a higher number of actigraphic night wakings, shorter periods of continuous sleep, shorter true sleep time, and a lower percentage of actual sleep time. Similar findings were manifested in sleep measures reported by the parents. Parental fear-management strategies were found to be linked to impaired actigraphic sleep measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with night-time fears are at risk for developing poor sleep quality, which may further compromise their psychological well-being.
authors: The Adler Center for Research in Child Development and Psychopathology, Department of Psychology, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: Kushnir
authors: Avi
authors: A
authors: Sadeh
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012307:Risk Factors; D012890:Sleep; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*