Poor sleep at night 'spills over' into children's emotional lives

Date:
July 7, 2020
Source:
University of Houston
Summary:
Poor sleep harms children's mental health and emotional stability
according to a new study.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In a new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, Candice Alfano, University of Houston professor of psychology
and director of the Sleep and Anxiety Center of Houston, reports the
results from an innovative, experimental study showing inadequate
nighttime sleep alters several aspects of children's emotional health.


========================================================================== Although plenty of correlational research links inadequate sleep with
poor emotional health, experimental studies in children are rare. Alfano
and her team studied 53 children ages 7-11 over more than a week. The
children completed an in-lab emotional assessment twice, once after a
night of healthy sleep and again after two nights where their sleep was restricted by several hours.

"After sleep restriction, we observed changes in the way children
experience, regulate and express their emotions," reports Alfano. "But, somewhat to our surprise, the most significant alterations were found
in response to positive rather than negative emotional stimuli." The multi-method assessment had children view a range of pictures and movie
clips eliciting both positive and negative emotions while the researchers recorded how children responded on multiple levels. In addition to
subjective ratings of emotion, researchers collected respiratory sinus arrhythmias (a non- invasive index of cardiac-linked emotion regulation)
and objective facial expressions. Alfano points out the novelty of these
data. "Studies based on subjective reports of emotion are critically
important, but they don't tell us much about the specific mechanisms
through which insufficient sleep elevates children's psychiatric risk."
Alfano highlights the implications of her findings for understanding
how poor sleep might "spill over" into children's everyday social and
emotional lives.

"The experience and expression of positive emotions are essential
for children's friendships, healthy social interactions and effective
coping. Our findings might explain why children who sleep less on average
have more peer- related problems," she said.

Another important finding from the study is that the impact of sleep
loss on emotion was not uniform across all children. Specifically,
children with greater pre-existing anxiety symptoms showed the most
dramatic alterations in emotional responding after sleep restriction.

According to Alfano, these results emphasize a potential need to assess
and prioritize healthy sleep habits in emotionally vulnerable children.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Houston. Original
written by Laurie Fickman. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Candice A. Alfano, Joanne L. Bower, Allison G. Harvey, Deborah
C. Beidel,
Carla Sharp, Cara A. Palmer. Sleep restriction alters children's
positive emotional responses, but effects are moderated by
anxiety. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2020; DOI:
10.1111/jcpp.13287 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707113243.htm

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