Bedtime and Behavior: Regular Sleep Schedules Lessen Kids' Behavioral Problems

If early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, a new study adds a corollary to Benjamin Franklin's famous aphorism: A regular bedtime makes a child healthy—at least behaviorally speaking.

In a large-scale, population-based cohort study published Oct. 14 in Pediatrics, researchers in England reported that 7-year-old children with nonregular bedtimes had more behavioral difficulties than did children with regular bedtimes.

While the connection between clinically diagnosed sleep problems and behavioral problems in children is well documented, less is known about that link in nonclinical pediatric populations. Yvonne Kelly, PhD, John Kelly, BEng, and Amanda Sacker, PhD, at the University College London, set out to determine whether bedtime schedules are associated with behavioral difficulties, and if so, whether the behavioral effects of bedtime schedules are cumulative in early childhood. They also attempted to determine whether changes in bedtime schedules are linked to changes in behavior.

They analyzed data from more than 10,000 7-year-olds in the UK Millennium Cohort Study, with bedtime data collected at 3, 5, and 7 years, and with behavioral difficulties scores rated by the children's mothers and teachers.

Erratic bedtimes can disrupt circadian rhythms, lead to sleep deprivation, and impair brain development and a child's ability to regulate behavior, the researchers found. Hyperactivity, conduct issues, and emotional difficulties were reportedly worse in children without a regular bedtime. Still, the adverse effects appeared to be reversible: As children progressed through early childhood without a regular bedtime, their behavioral scores worsened, but children who switched to a more regular bedtime had clear improvements in behavior.

The researchers concluded that a regular bedtime schedule during early childhood has an important influence on behavior. Pediatricians have "clear opportunities for interventions aimed at supporting family routines," such as checking for sleep disruptions during routine health care visits, that might have a positive influence on health throughout a child’s life, they noted.

—Michael Gerchufsky

Reference:

Kelly Y, Kelly J, Sacker A. Changes in bedtime schedules and behavioral difficulties in 7 year old children. Pediatrics. Published online ahead of print October 14, 2013. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-1906.

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