title: Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Household Income in Relation to Sleep in Early Childhood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE : Sleep health is critical for children to adapt to evolving cognitive-socioemotional contexts. Given that sleep timing in early childhood is instituted under caregiver control, the family context likely has an influential role on children's sleep. This study investigated links between maternal depressive symptoms and variability in children's sleep, and whether household income moderated this relation.  METHOD : 90 children (Mage = 53 ± 9 months) wore actigraphs to objectively measure sleep for 4-16 days. Mothers reported income and depressive symptomatology. RESULTS : Higher maternal depressive symptoms were related to greater variability in 24-hr sleep duration. Income moderated this relation. Lower income, but not maternal depressive symptoms, was linked to greater variability in sleep onset time.  CONCLUSIONS : Findings demonstrate important relations between maternal depressive symptoms, income, and children's sleep. Understanding distal and proximal family characteristics that may be related to children's developing sleep schedules could help identify populations and strategies for promoting optimal sleep health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, rspencer@psych.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Desiree M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience & Behavior Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cremone
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience & Behavior Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
authors.forename: Laura B F
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Kurdziel
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience & Behavior Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Desrochers
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, and.
authors.forename: Monique K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: LeBourgeois
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sayer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ertel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Neuroscience & Behavior Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
authors.forename: Rebecca M C
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Spencer
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: children; depression; family functioning; health behavior; sleep