PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Association of sleep quality with temperament among one-month-old infants in The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

  • Kimiyo Kikuchi,
  • Takehiro Michikawa,
  • Seiichi Morokuma,
  • Norio Hamada,
  • Yoshiko Suetsugu,
  • Kazushige Nakahara,
  • Kiyoko Kato,
  • Masafumi Sanefuji,
  • Eiji Shibata,
  • Mayumi Tsuji,
  • Masayuki Shimono,
  • Toshihiro Kawamoto,
  • Shouichi Ohga,
  • Koichi Kusuhara,
  • Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274610
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 9
p. e0274610

Abstract

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This study aimed to examine the association between infant sleep quality and temperament in one-month-old infants using a large cohort study data. We used data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a cohort study which follows around 100,000 women from pregnancy until their children's development. The mothers were asked about their infants' sleep and temperament using a structured questionnaire. Frequent crying (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00-1.10) and intense crying (AOR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.13-1.25) were positively associated with longer sleep periods during the day than at night. Female infants with longer daytime sleep periods than that at nighttime were more likely to cry frequently (AOR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.04-1.20). Parous women with infants who had frequent night awakening believed their infants cried more intensely (AOR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.03-1.31). The study demonstrated a specific association between sleep quality and temperament in one-month-old infants. Based on the results of this study, further sleep intervention studies are required to improve infant temperament.