Home Sleeping Conditions and Sleep Quality in Low-Income Preschool Children

Abstract

We investigated associations between the home sleeping conditions and sleep quality of low-income preschool children. Parents of pre-school children in Head Start programs in Michigan in the United States completed a sleep environment survey, which asked parents about their children’s sleep conditions. They also completed the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire, on which higher scores reflect worse quality sleep. Among 120 preschoolers, 52% shared a bed and 53% shared a room at least once per week. Poor sleep quality was correlated with the frequency of sharing a room with parents, falling asleep with the TV on, sleeping in a place that was too bright, and inversely with sleeping alone in one’s own bed. Stepwise regression analysis revealed sleeping alone in his/her own bed was associated with better sleep quality (β = −0.24, standard error = 0.47, p = 0.01). We found that bed-sharing is associated with poorer sleep quality in low-income families.

Keywords

• Co-sleeping
• Preschooler
• Low-income
• Sleeping condition