Trajectories of reported sleep duration associate with early childhood cognitive development

Abstract

Study Objectives Examine how different trajectories of reported sleep duration associate with early childhood cognition. Methods Caregiver-reported sleep duration data (n=330) were collected using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months and Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire at 54 months. Multiple group-based day-, night- and/or total sleep trajectories were derived – each differing in duration and variability. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III (Bayley-III) and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test- 2 (KBIT-2) were used to assess cognition at 24 and 54 months respectively. Results Compared to short variable night sleep trajectory, long consistent night sleep trajectory was associated with higher scores on Bayley-III (cognition and language), while moderate/long consistent night sleep trajectories were associated with higher KBIT-2 (verbal and composite) scores. Children with a long consistent total sleep trajectory had higher Bayley-III (cognition and expressive language) and KBIT-2 (verbal and composite) scores compared to children with a short variable total sleep trajectory. Moderate consistent total sleep trajectory was associated with higher Bayley-III language and KBIT-2 verbal scores relative to the short variable total trajectory. Children with a long variable day sleep had lower Bayley-III (cognition and fine motor) and KBIT-2 (verbal and composite) scores compared to children with a short consistent day sleep trajectory. Conclusions Longer and more consistent night- and total sleep trajectories, and a short day sleep trajectory in early childhood were associated with better cognition at 2 and 4.5 years.

Adherence to 24-hour integrated activity guidelines among infants, toddlers and preschool children in Singapore

“…This pattern of escalating screen time as children age mirrors observations made in a local study involving children aged 6 to 24 months [ 32 ], and aligns with findings from a study in the United States concerning children aged 0 to 8 years [ 49 ]. Our nighttime sleep duration in this age group is consistent with findings from other local studies [ 33 , 41 ]. At this stage, a notable disparity emerged in the total sleep duration children were obtaining, with greater amounts during weekends (11.2 hours per night) in contrast to weekdays (10.9 hours per night), primarily due to extended nighttime sleep.…”

“…However, the lower engagement in physical activity observed from our study during the weekdays despite the lower engagement in screen time use could be due to the inability of caregivers to gauge total physical activity per day in children who were attending childcare. The average sleep duration of approximately 12.9 hours/day among toddlers concurs with other studies conducted in Singapore children aged 2 years old [ 33 , 41 ]. The lower nighttime sleep duration on weekdays could be explained by the longer daytime nap durations, possibly contributed by compulsory naptime practices in all childcare centres in Singapore [ 41 ].…”

“…These findings concur with data from the Growing Up in Singapore Toward Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study where only 30% of infants at 3 months old met sleep recommendations, compared to 47% at 6 months and 56% at 9 months [31]. The average sleep duration in infants from this study was also similar to that in previously published local studies [32,33]. A study in Canadian infants displayed a similar trend of higher parent-reported adherence to sleep guidelines in 4 (73.6%) and 6 (80.4%) months old, than in 2-month-olds (49.2%).…”

Association between sleep duration and serum neurofilament light chain levels among adults in the United States

“…There has long been considered that sleep duration has linked to many neurodegeneration diseases [ 29 , 58 , 59 ]. Apart from some extreme status such as ABCC9 (ATP-binding cassette, sub-family C, member9) mutations [ 60 ], our result showed that sleep duration do impair neurons, but the precise pathway and link still need further exploration.…”

Associations between sleep trajectories up to 54 months and cognitive school readiness in 4 year old preschool children

“…The above variables were selected as they are common covariates that are known to influence sleep and/or outcomes related to cognitive and language domains, especially in the GUSTO sample ( Cai et al, 2015 ; Zhou et al, 2015 ; Tham et al, 2019 ; Jafar et al, 2021 ). In addition, recent work on the GUSTO cohort exploring the effects of sleep duration trajectories in early childhood cognitive development have also adjusted for the above set of covariates ( Cai et al, 2022 ).…”