Parent psychopathology as a mediator of the relationship between anxiety and sleep problems in children.
BACKGROUND
Sleep problems exert a negative impact on youths and their families. Parent and child mental health represent 2 posited, yet understudied, risk factors for sleep problems in youths. As such, this study sought to examine the role that parental psychopathology may play in mediating the relationship between child anxiety and sleep problems utilizing Internet sampling procedures.


METHODS
Parents (n = 83; 90.4% female) answered questions about their own mental health, and about their child's (n = 83; 77.1% female) anxiety and sleep.


RESULTS
Analyses found that parent anxiety and stress mediated the relationship between child anxiety and sleep problems.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study to examine the joint roles of parent psychopathology and child anxiety in explaining sleep problems in youths. Limitations notwithstanding, these results suggest that both parent- and child-level variables are important for developing a more comprehensive understanding of child sleep problems. Future areas of research are discussed.
Department of Psychological Sciences.
Sarah K
SK
Francazio
Department of Psychological Sciences.
Amy J
AJ
Fahrenkamp
Department of Psychological Sciences.
Alexandra L
AL
D'Auria
Department of Psychological Sciences.
Amy F
AF
Sato
Department of Psychological Sciences.
Christopher A
CA
Flessner
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology*