Association of sleep and behavioral problems in Nanjing preschool children / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the prevalence of sleep and behavioral problems in a large sample of Nanjing preschoolers,and explore the relationship between them.Methods A total of 1327 children from 6 kindergartens of 2 districts in Nanjing,aged 3-6 years,were included in the study by using a stratified random sample survey method.Parents of these children completed a questionnaire including sleep habits and social characteristics of the children and their family.Behavioral problem scores were measured by the Achenbach children behavior checklist for children aged 1.5-5.0 years.The relationship between sleep and behavioral problems was tested using multivariate Logistic regression models to control for potentially confounding factors.Results Overall,52.68％ of the children were found to have sleep problems.The prevalence of sleep problems in boys was 56.11％,which was significantly higher than that (48.60％) in girls (P =0.006).The prevalence of total behavioral problems was 10.40％.Children with sleep problems had significantly higher prevalence and scores of total behavioral problems,internalizing syndrome and externalizing syndrome compared with those of children without sleep problems,and the differences were significant (P ＜ 0.05).In Logistic regression models,the children sleep problems were significantly contributed to total behavioral problems(OR =2.08,P ＜ 0.001).Conclusion The children sleep problems are common and as a risk factor for behavioral problems in Nanjing preschoolers.