The Interaction between Lockdown-Specific Conditions and Family-Specific Variables Explains the Presence of Child Insomnia during COVID-19: A Key Response to the Current Debate

Royce Anders, Florian Lecuelle, Clément Perrin, Swann Ruyter, Patricia Franco, Stéphanie Huguelet and Benjamin Putois
Additional contact information
Royce Anders: EMC Laboratory, University of Lyon 2, 69500 Bron, France
Florian Lecuelle: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292-INSERM U1028, University of Lyon 1, 69000 Lyon, France
Clément Perrin: EMC Laboratory, University of Lyon 2, 69500 Bron, France
Swann Ruyter: EMC Laboratory, University of Lyon 2, 69500 Bron, France
Patricia Franco: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292-INSERM U1028, University of Lyon 1, 69000 Lyon, France
Stéphanie Huguelet: Faculty of Psychology, Swiss Distance Learning University, 1400 Brig, Switzerland
Benjamin Putois: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292-INSERM U1028, University of Lyon 1, 69000 Lyon, France

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: It is still debated whether lockdown conditions in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis seriously affected children’s sleep. For young children, some studies identified more insomnia, while others only transient disturbances, or even no effect. Based on the premise of mother–child synchrony, a well-known dynamic established in child development research, we hypothesized that principally, the children whose mothers perceived the lockdown as stressful and/or responded maladaptively, suffered sleep disturbances. The main objective of this study was to identify the family profiles, variables, and lockdown responses most linked to insomnia in young children. The sample consisted of 165 mothers, French vs. Swiss origin (accounting for different lockdown severities), of children 6 months to 5 years old. Validated sleep, stress, and behavior scales were used. Multiple regression, age-matched clustering, and structural equation modeling analyses provided evidence that insomnia in young children is indeed strongly linked to the mother’s reaction to the pandemic and lockdown. Specifically, reactions such as COVID-19 fear/anxiety and obsessive COVID-19 information seeking coincide with heightened vigilance, cascading into reduced child social contact, outings, and increased screen viewing, ultimately culminating in child insomnia and behavioral problems. Mother education level and child day care quality (e.g., home-schooling) were also identified as strong insomnia predictors.

Keywords: sleep disturbance; young children; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; lockdown; health crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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