Sleep and Development: Familial and Socio-Cultural Considerations

452 Pages·2011·1.399 MB·English

by  Mona El-Sheikh

Sleep and Development
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Sleep and Development
Familial and Socio-Cultural Considerations
EDITED BY
M O N A E L - S H E I K H
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sleep and development : familial and socio-cultural considerations / edited by Mona El-Sheikh.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-19-539575-4
1. Sleep disorders. 2. Sleep deprivation. 3. Families. I. El-Sheikh, Mona.
RC547.S5165 2011
616.8’498—dc22 2010020135
____________________________________________
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents
Foreword vii
Ronald E. Dahl
Introduction and Overview: Salient Issues in the Consideration
of Sleep in Context xi
Mona El-Sheikh
List of Contributors xvii
Part 1: Sleep: Familial Infl uences
1. Sleep in Children: Links with Marital Confl ict and Child
Development 3
Mona El-Sheikh and Ryan J. Kelly
2. The Parenting Context of Children’s Sleep 29
Stephen A. Erath and Kelly M. Tu
3. Sleep and Attachment 49
Peggy S. Keller
4. Parental Psychopathology and Children’s Sleep 79
Ronald Seifer
5. Effects of Trauma on Children’s Sleep 99
Carol Glod
6. Impact of Child Sleep Disturbances on Parent Sleep
and Daytime Functioning 113
Lisa J. Meltzer and Anna M. L. Westin
v
vi Contents
7. Children’s Sleep Defi cits and Cognitive and Behavioral
Adjustment 133
Angela D. Staples and John E. Bates
Part II: Sleep: Socio-Cultural Infl uences
8. Developmental Cultural Ecology of Sleep 167
Carol M. Worthman
9. Sleep Environments of Y oung Children in Post-Industrial
Societies 195
Melissa M. Burnham and Erika E. Gaylor
10. Children’s Sleep in the Context of Socioeconomic Status,
Race, and Ethnicity 219
Les A. Gellis
11. Children’s Sleep, Cognition, and Academic Performance in the
Context of Socioeconomic Status and Ethnicity 245
Joseph A. Buckhalt and Lori E. Staton
12. Young Adolescents: Struggles with Insuffi cient Sleep 265
Amy R. Wolfson and Melissa Richards
Part III:Assessment of Sleep, Family Functioning, and the
Ecology of Economic Disadvantage
13. The Ecology of Economic Disadvantage and
Children’s Sleep 301
Brian P. Ackerman and Eleanor D. Brown
14. Assessment of Family Functioning 329
E. Mark Cummings, Kalsea J. Koss, and Kathleen N. Bergman
15. Sleep Assessment Methods 355
Avi Sadeh
Part IV: Intervention for Sleep Problems
16. Family-Based Interventions for Sleep Problems of Infants
and Children 375
Courtney Johnson and Jodi A. Mindell
Index 403
Foreword
Ronald E. Dahl
Sleep is a many-splendored thing. It is as mysterious, multifaceted,
and complex as it is a simple (and regular) necessity for an enjoyable and
healthy life. These issues are particularly salient from a developmental
perspective—where it is becoming increasingly clear that sleep is important
from a biological, behavioral, psychological, cognitive, emotional, social,
and cultural perspective.
At a biologic level, there is growing evidence that sleep plays a cru-
cial role in plasticity and neural development, contributes to basic aspects
of learning and memory, and occupies a key role in basic regulatory
and metabolic processes. Moreover, all of these processes are undergoing
rapid changes during early development, consistent with the idea that
sleep is particularly important to the developing brain and body.
At a behavioral level, sleep–wake patterns represent a central orga-
nizing principle. Not only is sleep the singularly most prevalent behavior
during the early years (infants and young children spend more hours
asleep than in all waking activities combined) but also, more generally,
sleep and wakefulness infl uence (and are infl uenced by) a wide range of
behaviors in many complex ways. This is true not only at the level of
individual behavior, but also at the level of social and family interaction.
The most dramatic example is that if a young child cannot sleep, it is
extremely likely that at least one adult (if not multiple others) will also
have their sleep disrupted.
Sleep has become an increasing focus of interest for many psy-
chologists for a variety of reasons. This work ranges from psychological
approaches to disorders like insomnia to investigations into links between
vviiii
viii Foreword
sleep and psychological processes (such as attention) and disorders (such
depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder).
There has been similar growth in understanding the importance of
sleep in relation to cognitive and emotional processes, such as the impor-
tance of sleep to memory and learning, and the impact of sleep depriva-
tion on mood and emotion regulation. For example, irritability, increases
in negative mood, and decreases in positive mood and motivation repre-
sent some of the best documented consequences of inadequate sleep.
However, the effects of sleep deprivation go far beyond psycho-
logical, cognitive, and emotional processes. Insuffi cient sleep has been
associated with (and suspected to have some causal links) to several seri-
ous health outcomes, including accidents, aggression, appetite/obesity,
metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular health among others.
At the most fundamental level, however, sleep is increasingly being
recognized as a complex behavior that is naturally embedded in family,
social, and cultural contexts. This is particularly salient in relation to chil-
dren’s sleep—something that has been clearly evident to pediatricians
and family practitioners for decades. Sleep problems have long been
among the three most prevalent concerns–along with eating and elimi-
nation issues–to the parents of young children.
Finally, as described in numerous chapters in this book, there is also
growing interest (and serious concerns) about sleep from a public health
perspective. Children of all ages, and adolescents in particular, are often
getting what appears to be insuffi cient sleep for optimal functioning
and health. The most frequent causes of these decrements in sleep are
clearly the consequences of social, family, and cultural infl uences, rather
than biological. The increasing 24/7 pace of life combined with access
to technology (e.g., constant access to bright lights, television, music,
internet, cell phone, and text messages) is steadily eroding time for bed
and sleep. Given the aforementioned importance of sleep for physical,
cognitive, emotional health, as well as learning, the evidence that many
children and adolescents are getting less sleep during important periods
of development is raising many provocative (and important) questions.
As we recognize both the importance and complexity of sleep—
particularly from a developmental perspective—a central question to
consider is this: How should we best advance understanding of the
Foreword ix
developmental, clinical, and public health aspects of this many-splendored
thing we call sleep?
The answers are unlikely to emerge from research within any one
discipline alone. The most important and practical questions about sleep
in children and adolescents in contemporary society are not addressable
by studies within any single discipline such as neuroscience, develop-
mental psychology, clinical investigations, or epidemiology; rather, it will
require an integrated approach that includes a broader understanding of
the family, social, and cultural contexts in which sleep occurs, develops,
goes awry, and infl uences and interacts with an immense range of differ-
ent aspects of life.
Granted, this is a tall order. Luckily, Mona El-Sheikh and her col-
leagues have taken a huge step toward accomplishing this set of goals. In this
volume, Sleep and Development: Familial and Socio-Cultural Considerations ,
they have taken a truly multidisciplinary approach, and have provided an
impressive array of perspectives. These range from general frameworks
for considering family and social contexts, to specifi c topics such as
attachment, marital confl ict, parenting, parental psychopathology, effects
of trauma, the impact of child sleep disturbances on parents’ sleep and
daytime function, impact on children’s cognitive and behavioral adjust-
ment, an anthropological perspective in the cultural ecology of sleep,
consideration of the impact of postindustrial societies, children’s sleep in
the context of socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity, consideration of
sleep in relation to economic disadvantage, and children’s sleep, cogni-
tion, and academic performance in the context of socioeconomic status
and ethnicity. The book also considers a broad range of related sleep
issues in adolescents, as well as methodological issues including assess-
ment of sleep, family functioning, and family-based interventions for
sleep problems in infants and young children.
This kind of breadth of approaches and perspectives is an extremely
valuable contribution to the fi eld. This book provides a matrix of
understanding the family and socio-cultural contexts that is not only
pragmatically helpful and interesting, but also will help to frame future
investigations that will lead to a deeper and better integrated under-
standing of sleep and development across numerous disciplines.