Relationship between impulsivity and sleep disorders in children aged 6 to 12 years / 中国当代儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between impulsivity and sleep disorders in children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 1 736 children at ages of 6 to 12 years were randomly sampled from five districts of Changsha. Their parents completed the questionnaires about children's sleep conditions and behaviors (using Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Five hundred and fifty-four children (31.9%) had sleep disorders. The incidence of sleep disorders in boys was significantly higher than that in girls (35.4% vs 28.3%; P<0.01). The scores of attentional, motor, and non-planning impulsiveness factors as well as the total score of Barratt Impulsiveness Scale in children with sleep disorders were significantly higher than those in children without (P<0.01). The incidence of daytime sleepiness (35.9%) in children with sleep disorders was significantly higher than that in children without (24.7%; P<0.01). The scores of attentional, motor, and non-planning impulsiveness factors increased with the grade of sleep disorders, and reached a peak at the fifth grade. The children with frequent sleep snoring showed higher scores of above three impulsiveness factors than children without sleep snoring or having rare snoring (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Sleep disorders are associated with impulsivity in children. It is thus essential to pay close attentions to children's sleep for children with relatively high impulsiveness.</p>