title: Poor Parental Sleep and the Reported Sleep Quality of Their Children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pediatric sleep disturbances are regularly diagnosed on the basis of parental reports. However, the impact of parental sleeping problems on parental perceptions and reports of their child's sleep has not yet been studied. We hypothesized that poor parental sleep decreases the parent-reported child sleep quality.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 1-week actigraph recording was performed in 100 children aged 2 to 6 years recruited in 16 day care centers. Their biological parents completed a sleep diary and a Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) on children's sleep. The parents also completed the Jenkins' sleep scale on their own sleep, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, and questions on demographic factors. Linear regression analyses were performed to study the association of the parental Jenkins' score on their child's total SDSC score. Analyses were also performed for 3 of the subscales of the SDSC: disorders of excessive somnolence, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, and sleep-wake transition disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parental sleeping problems were associated with more frequent reporting of children's sleeping problems. This association was unexplained by the actigraph measures of children's sleep, such as actual 24-hour sleep time and sleep efficiency, parental mental health problems, or any other tested potential confounder or mediator. Similar correlations were seen for the 3 analyzed subscales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parental sleep quality was associated with overreporting of sleep problems in their children. This finding emphasizes the importance of considering parental sleep quality in the diagnosis, treatment, and research of pediatric sleeping problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Health Care Center of Kaarina, Kaarina, Finland;
authors.forename: Hanni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rönnlund
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland;
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elovainio
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neurophysiology, Public Utility Tyks-Sapa, Medical Care Services, Hospital District of Southwest Finland, Turku, Finland;
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.affiliation: Turku Clinical Research Center and.
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matomäki
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland lehela@utu.fi.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lapinleimu
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D057566:Self Report; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis