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AIM: To explore the characteristics of astigmatism in preschool children before, during and after the COVID-19 epidemic, so as to provide a reference for further prevention and control of children's vision. *METHODS: In the consecutive four years from January 2018 to December 2021, a retrospective analysis of vision data was conducted on 2 273 preschool children (4546 eyes) younger than 4 years old who participated in children' s vision screening test in Baiyun district, Guangzhou. They were divided into 1 - year old group (ages<1-year old, 420 cases), 2-year old group (1-year <= ages < 2- year, 543 cases), 3- year old group (2- year <=ages <3-year, 614 cases), and 4 - year old group (3 - year <= ages< 4- year, 696 cases) according to ages. The analysis included astigmatic degrees of children's eyes as well as their conditions of astigmatism. *RESULTS: In 2018, the astigmatic degrees of the both eyes of 1-year-old group were higher than those of other groups (P<0.05). The binocular astigmatic degrees of the preschool children in four groups were obviously higher in 2020 than 2019 (P < 0. 05), while they were significantly decreased in 2021 when compared with 2020 (P < 0. 05). From 2019 to 2020, the increase of astigmatic degrees of the right eye is more considerable than the left eye of preschool children in those four groups (P < 0. 001). Furthermore, the morbidity of astigmatism basically echoes with the changing tendency of astigmatic degrees from 2018 to 2021. *CONCLUSIONS: Preschool children in Baiyun district, Guangzhou, have the highest degree of astigmatism and the fastest progression rate within 1 year old. Before COVID - 19 epidemic, the changes in astigmatism and prevalence were relatively stable;during COVID - 19 epidemic, the astigmatism and prevalence increased significantly and the astigmatic degrees of right eye increased more than that of the left eye;after the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the astigmatism and prevalence decreased significantly.Copyright © 2023 International Journal of Ophthalmology (c/o Editorial Office). All rights reserved.
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This study aimed to examine the views of parents of young children on their children's use of technology during COVID-19. The participants of this research, in which a case study was used, consisted of 10 mothers and 10 fathers living in a province in the inner Aegean region of Turkey. The interview form prepared by the researcher was used as a data collection tool. The data obtained from this research were analysed using content analysis. The research data were gathered under the following four themes: family guidance, technology use in the family, effects on the development of the child, and technology education. The findings showed that parents had positive opinions about the use of technological tools and technology education during COVID-19. In addition, it was concluded that parents needed support on how to guide their children in this process. It was determined that while some parents tried to be positive models for their children, they showed different approaches with their spouses. To them, technolog) affected their children's behavior and attention/interest levels negatively.
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Background: In March 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Since then, our lives have changed significantly, particularly vulnerable groups, such as young children. A young child's movements throughout a typical day include sleeping, sitting, and physical activity (PA) of different intensities. In 2019 the WHO released the first global guideline for movement behavior of children under the age of five. Due to the distinct movement behavior recommendations for this age group and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these behaviors, the present review aims to appraise the literature from across the globe on the effect of COVID-19 on movement behaviors, including screen-time, PA, and sleep in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Methods: PubMed and Google scholar electronic database were searched, the titles and s of all articles retrieved from the search were screened and duplicates were removed. The full texts of potential articles to be included in the study were then reviewed based on the inclusion criteria, and data were extracted from the selected studies using a Microsoft Excel sheet. Results: This review included 11 studies. Four studies cross-sectional, six longitudinal, and one cohort study. The sample size ranged from 25 to 4,136 children. In all of the studies, the sedentary screen-time increased significantly. Sleep, on the other hand, did not change significantly in the majority of the studies, although sleep duration increased in some studies. There were large discrepancies between the device-measured and parent-reported outcomes regarding physical activity that decreased in all studies, except for the Hong Kong and Sweden studies it increased. Conclusion: As the world is still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and managing the uncertainty of other pandemics that may occur, our review can help to promote a healthy balanced pattern of movement behaviors by providing information to support parents of young children.
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Previous research about children's digital play has predominantly focused on parental perspectives and parental mediation strategies. Although research on the effects of digital play on young children's development is plentiful, there is little evidence on young children's digital play addiction tendency. Herein, preschool children's digital play addiction tendency, and the mother-child relationship perceived by mothers, examining child- and family-related factors were explored. The present study also aimed to contribute to the current research pertaining to preschool-aged children's digital play addiction tendency through an examination of the mother-child relationship, and child- and family-related factors as potential predictors of children's digital play addiction tendency. A sample of 450 mothers of children between 4 and 6 years filled out two measures that identify the mother-child relationship and children's digital play addiction tendency. Correlational analyses revealed that in general, the mother-child relationship was significantly associated with children's digital play addiction tendency. Significant differences were evident in the relationship between numerous child- and family-related factors, and children's digital play addiction tendency, as well as the mother-child relationship. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that a negative mother-child relationship, the children's digital play usage, and the mothers' digital device usage predicted the children's digital play addiction tendency.
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The aim of this article is to find out how preschool children felt after returning to preschool after 13- to 15-week- lockdown and whether their teachers made any amends in their work to accommodate children's needs and anxieties arising from the epidemic. The method used was triangulation: in addition to interviews with children (40), interviews were also conducted with their teachers (19) and parents (31). Our study shows that for most children, return to preschool was not stressful. Most children were happy that the preschool reopened which confirms that children of this age need the company of their peers and that preschool is an important part of their life. In regards to any changes in the methods of work, our research found that just under half of teachers amended their teaching methods and thus demonstrated awareness that children needed some time to readjust to preschool and its routines. Those teachers also seemed to understand that children had to be provided a safe environment in which they could broaden their understanding of the situation and process any potential epidemic-related traumatic experiences. Situations like the epidemic can help teachers reassess their relationship with and approach to children, especially in regards to listening to them and seeing them as competent beings.
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At its introduction in the management of pediatric asthma, montelukast was regarded as a potentially revolutionary drug due to its mechanism of action and easy clinical applicability. Nevertheless, its use in daily practice and evidence from clinical trials have shown that, rather than a radical change in the approach to asthmatic children, montelukast more likely represents a second-line medication that is useful when inhaled steroids alone fail in providing adequate symptom control. Furthermore, increasingly reported side effects have raised concerns regarding its safety. In the last decade, several studies have tried to better define the strengths and drawbacks of montelukast both in preschool wheezing and school-age asthma. The present review summarizes the literature published on this topic since 2010, highlighting the often-controversial results and the unanswered questions regarding the role of montelukast in pediatric asthma. Moreover, advances in the understanding of the mechanisms of action of montelukast are reported. The main finding emerging from the present analysis is that montelukast application is likely to be useful in a subset of asthmatic children rather than in large groups of patients. Future studies should focus on the identification of biomarkers able to predict which patients will benefit from montelukast to achieve a more tailored prescription.
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COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of everyone from young children to the aged. Children especially preschoolers are highly energetic and love to go to school and do different types of activities. But because of corona pandemic lockdown, they only have their parents and siblings to interact with, play with, and do all other different types of activities. This qualitative study was conducted to explore the different types of changes that occurred in the lives of preschoolers and how their parents' roles, responsibilities got influenced, and how they were handling their young children during this trying time of being confined at home. The objectives of the study were to explore that how children at home during the time of the pandemic spent their time and to map the changes in their routine life and its effect on their life and development along with this it was also tried to document the ways in which parents are engaging children during this pandemic. Interviews were conducted through audio and video calls. The responses were subjected to thematic analysis. The key findings highlighted that education plays a significant role in preschoolers but because of the negative impact of screen time parents were not interested in online classes. The children have become more engaged in digital media due to being confined at home without school for a long duration of around ten months and because of this the aggression level has increased as they had a low social development environment, and no peer at all.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a global catastrophe that has had a detrimental impact on people's daily lives. Children have suffered as a result of being confined to their homes constantly. Preschoolers in particular are quite active and like attending school and participating in a variety of extracurricular activities. But, because of the corona pandemic lockdown, they are limited to engaging in play and other activities with their parents and siblings. This qualitative study was conducted to find the changes that parents of preschool children felt in their children's behavior and how they were handling them during this trying time of being confined at home. The objectives of the study were to explore that the preschool children being at home during the time of the pandemic how got changed in their behavior as well as the changes in their routine life, along with this it was also tried to document the ways in which parents are managing them during this pandemic. Interviews were conducted through audio and video calls. The responses were then analysed thematically. The main conclusions emphasised the significance of early childhood education for the development of children's manners. Young children's behaviour is greatly influenced by preschools in their daily lives. The kids' increasing usage of digital media is a result of their extended home absence from school, and their increased hostility is a result of their lack of peers and low social development setting.
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Objective: To understand the awereness and health needs of parents in regards to infectious diseases in kindergartens in Chengdu, and to provide a reference for carrying out targeted health education on infectious diseases. Methods: The parents of kindergarten children in Chenghua District of Chengdu was selected by convenient sampling, and a self-designed questionnaire was used. Results: The rate of awareness among parents regarding pediatric infectious diseases was 42.0%, among which the awareness rate of "treatment measures following a dog bite" was the highest (99.6%), and "the awareness rate of infectious disease classifications in China" was the lowest (26.7%). The awareness rate was related to family role, education level, occupation and income level (X2=10.81, 71.81, 93.78, 25.17, P < 0.05). The survey examined the demand for knowledge regarding pediatric infectious disease prevention and control, and revealed that parents primarily obtained such information from the school class group (85.5%). The most desirable way of obtaining relevant information was from information provided by professional institutions (96.6%), the infectious disease that parents most wanted to know about was the 2019 novel coronavirus (91.9%), and the most desirable time to acquire knowledge about infectious diseases depended on the seasonal arrangement of infectious diseases (67.5%). Conclusion: The awareness rate of parents about children's infectious diseases is in the middle level, and the channels for acquiring the knowledge about infectious diseases are relatively limited. Schools can carry out targeted health education in order to raise the awareness rate of parents of preschool children about children's infectious diseases.
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Young children's use of digital technologies has presented challenges for parents, particularly in response to an increased reliance on digital resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. This mixed-methods study explored young children's digital practices within the context of their families and homes. Although this study was originally planned, the timing of data collection meant that it was uniquely positioned to capture parent perspectives as the pandemic and first lockdown was unfolding in Australia. Data was collected through questionnaire (N = 101) and semistructured interview (n = 20) about status and change in children's digital practices, and parents' rules and flexibility in governing these experiences. Quantitative findings suggested children's frequency and duration of digital device use trended upwards during lockdown, and parents were more flexible in their rules about the amount of screen time, as well as when and where children could use digital devices. Qualitative results suggested that, more than a temporary and situational change, for many parents, exposure to new ways of engaging with digital technologies facilitated a shift in their perceptions, leading to greater consideration of quality in their choices for their children. This study highlights the influential role of parents in shaping children's digital experiences. Understanding their perceptions, as well as children's current and shifting digital practices in the home, is important for informing efforts and guidance for supporting young children's safe and effective use of digital technologies.
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Amidst a steady clamor about "learning loss" during the pandemic, a minority of educators have cautioned we must, in the words of Donna Haraway, "stay with the trouble," giving children space to grieve, explore, and make sense of a new reality. In this paper I interrogate what it means to stay with trouble and specifically call for what I refer to as "wander time" to stay with trouble in schools. With the phrase wander time, I reference the 40 years the Ancient Israelites spent wandering the desert after they left Egypt as slaves and before they founded a nation in Israel. Taking a phenomenological approach, I then illustrate the practical implications and the potential of wander time through a study of my then preschool-age son's yearlong self-directed and adult supported multimedia exploration of Transformers (vehicles in popular culture that transform into robots with human-like personalities). I document how through this exploration, my son articulated fears, stayed with, and made sense of troubles. I close by analyzing the pedagogy of wander time to suggest practical implications for schools.
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Objective: To summarize and analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 Omicron variant cases in makeshift hospital, and the influence of age, sex and vaccination status on the disease duration, so as to provide reference for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 cases admitted to makeshift hospital of National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai) from April 9 to May 31, 2022 were retrospectively described and analyzed, and further cohort analysis was conducted to determine the influence of age, sex and vaccination status on the disease duration of COVID-19 cases in the author's branch hospital. Results: Among the 174 466 COVID-19 cases in makeshift hospital, most of them were male, accounting for 59.38%. The infected cases were mainly young and middle-aged people aged 18-59 years old, accounting for 83.50%, followed by 12.30% of the elderly group over 60 years old;the average hospital stay was 7.40 days;the proportion of patients with fever was less than 27.79%;15.37% (26 817/174 466) of the patients complicated with underlying diseases, and the top three were hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease. The proportion of people who received COVID-19 vaccine accounted for 79.56% (13 799/17 956), of which the highest proportion of three doses was 44.09%. The disease duration of 17 956 COVID-19 cases in the author's branch of makeshift hospital was 10.18 (7.34, 13.05) days. The disease duration in the elderly group was the longest with 11.34 (8.35, 14.37) days, followed by 11.17 (9.07, 14.33) days in the preschool group, 10.37 (8.14, 13.34) days in the middle-aged group, 10.07 (7.37, 12.37) days in the school-age group, and 9.34 (7.05, 12.16) days in the young group. There was significant difference in the overall distribution of disease duration among the five groups (H=550.479 P < 0.01). The disease duration in each age group basically showed a V-shaped distribution. The disease duration was 10.27 (7.34, 12.57) days in males and 10.10 (7.25, 13.09) days in females, and there was no significant difference (Z=-1.505 P > 0.05). The disease duration of vaccinated patients was 10.24 (7.35, 13.05) days, and that of unvaccinated patients was 9.47 (7.09, 12.47) days. There was significant difference between the two groups (Z=-4.338 P < 0.01). Conclusions: COVID-19 Omicron variant cases have a high proportion of males, mainly young and middle-aged, and the proportion of fever patients is less than 30%. The disease duration is significantly lower than that of the original strain in Wuhan, and shows "V" distribution with each age group. Sex had no effect on the disease duration. COVID-19 vaccination did not have a clinical effect on the disease duration.
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This research aimed to explore the perspectives of early educators regarding the impacts of digital play on preschool children's physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development and the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their perspectives. Besides, the present study investigated the challenges perceived by early educators when implementing digital play. By adopting a qualitative phenomenological research design, 24 interview questions were developed based on the current study's research aims. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five early educators recruited via purposive sampling in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic had a minor to non-existent influence on the perspectives of early educators towards digital play. Challenges faced due to the implementation of digital play include overstimulation, technological instability, and limited availability of technological devices. In virtual lessons, early educators faced the limitation of virtual instruction while the children faced difficulty in getting adult support. Therefore, parents and early educators should carefully monitor the content of digital play exposed to children. The government may improve children's education through strategic financial aid for kindergartens and low-income families. Moreover, policymakers and employers may set flexible policies which increase parents' availability to support their children's education. As a novel study that investigated the potential influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on early educators' perspectives towards digital play, this research has provided fundamental implications for government, early educators, parents, and society in the mid-pandemic and post-pandemic society to adjust their practices in promoting preschool children's healthy development. © 2022, City University of Hong Kong Press. All rights reserved.
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We examined father involvement in two groups of two-parent Chilean families with children aged from 2 to 7 years, one prior to the pandemic (N = 115) and the second during the pandemic (N = 103). We first presented a description of fathering in the Chilean context and then examined potential predictors of fathers' cognitive and affective involvement. Data showed that during the pandemic fathers reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to before the pandemic. However, levels of cognitive and affective involvement did not vary across studies. Parental stress predicted cognitive and affective involvement in pre-pandemic fathers. Number of children and educational level were related only to cognitive involvement. The implications of these findings for intervention and future research are discussed. © 2022 Associação Portuguesa de Psicologia.
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Developmental research typically relies on face-to-face testing at laboratories, childcare centers, museums or playgroups. Current social distancing measures have led to a halt in research. Although face-to-face interaction is considered essential for research involving young children, current technology provides viable alternatives. This paper introduces an accessible, replicable and easy to follow method to conduct online developmental research with young children employing a word-learning task as an exemplar, including a detailed workflow and step-by-step guide to using easily accessible programs and platforms. Four-year-old children's (N = 56) performance on a word-learning task delivered online vs. face-to-face is provided as a method validation. Children's performance on the word-learning task was predominantly consistent across delivery modes, with only slight variation in performance between modes. The implications of these similar results across face-to-face and online methods are discussed alongside avenues for further research. Importantly, this paper presents an emerging methodological approach for the online administration of developmental science both within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, adding a new tool to current and future developmental scientist's toolkits.
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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of children and families worldwide. The objective of this study is to examine exposures and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on preschool-aged children and caregivers in the Atlántico region of Colombia. METHODS: The COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Scales (CEFIS) questionnaire was administered in Fall 2021 to 63 caregivers of children in Sabanalarga, Colombia enrolled in a neurodevelopment study as healthy controls. The CEFIS assesses pandemic-related exposures/events and impact; higher scores indicate greater exposure and negative impact. Descriptive and correlation analyses among exposure and impact scores were conducted. RESULTS: Caregivers reported a mean (standard deviation[SD]) of 11.1 (3.2) among 25 COVID-19-related exposures/events; most common types included stay-at-home orders, school closures, disruptions to living conditions and income loss. Total number of events was correlated with higher caregiver (P < .001) and child distress (P = .002). However, the mean (SD) impact score of 2.0 (0.6) suggests a trend toward more positive impact than negative. Caregivers reported improvements to sleep, exercise and family interactions. Some caregivers (n = 21) qualitatively reported negative effects including unemployment, fear/anxiety and inability to visit family, and positive effects such as unification, family closeness and spending more time with children. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of comprehensively exploring positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 and families' subsequent resilience and transformation. Using tools like the CEFIS, those seeking to mitigate negative impacts can contextualize data to better understand study outcomes and tailor services, resources and policy to families' unique needs. CEFIS data likely depend on timing, economic/public health resources and cultural values; future work should prioritize understanding the generalizability of CEFIS findings across samples.
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BACKGROUND: The primary objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of a virtual study protocol for a future longitudinal study, including recruitment, study measures, and procedures. The secondary objective was to examine preliminary hypotheses of associations, including 1) the correlations between total duration and patterns of screen time and cognitive development, and 2) the differences in quality of parent-child interactions for two screen-based tasks and a storybook reading task. METHODS: Participants included 44 children aged 3 years and their parents from Edmonton, Alberta and surrounding areas. Children's screen time patterns (i.e., type, device, content, context) were parental-reported using a 2-week online daily diary design. Children's cognitive development (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control, self-control, and language) was measured virtually through a recorded Zoom session. Parent-child interactions during three separate tasks (i.e., video, electronic game, and storybook reading) were also measured virtually through a separate recorded Zoom session (n = 42). The quality of the interactions was determined by the Parent-Child Interaction System (PARCHISY). Descriptive statistics, Intra-class correlations (ICC), Spearman's Rho correlations, and a one-way repeated measures ANOVA with a post-hoc Bonferroni test were conducted. RESULTS: All virtual protocol procedures ran smoothly. Most (70%) participants were recruited from four 1-week directly targeted Facebook ads. High completion rates and high inter-rater reliability in a random sample (Diary: 95% for 13/14 days; Cognitive development: 98% 3/4 tests, ICC > 0.93; Parent-child interactions: 100% for 3 tasks, Weighted Kappa ≥ 0.84) were observed for measures. Across cognitive development outcomes, medium effect sizes were observed for five correlations, with positive correlations observed with certain content (i.e., educational screen time) and negative associations observed for total screen time and certain types (show/movie/video viewing) and contexts (i.e., co-use). Medium and large effect sizes were observed for the differences in parent-child interaction quality between the three tasks. CONCLUSIONS: The virtual study protocol appeared feasible. Preliminary findings suggest it may be important to go beyond total duration and consider type, content, and context when examining the association between screen time and cognitive development. A future longitudinal study using this virtual protocol will be conducted with a larger and more generalizable sample.
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BACKGROUND: In Italy, inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) are inappropriately prescribed to provide relief in URTI symptoms. Extreme variation in ICS prescribing has been described at regional and sub-regional level. During 2020, extraordinary containment measures were implemented in attempt to halt Coronavirus, such as social distancing, lockdown, and the use of mask. Our objectives were to evaluate the indirect impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on prescribing patterns of ICSs in preschool children and to estimate the prescribing variability among pediatricians before and during the pandemic. METHODS: In this real-world study, we enrolled all children residing in the Lazio region (Italy), aged 5 years or less during the period 2017-2020. The main outcome measures were the annual ICS prescription prevalence, and the variability in ICS prescribing, for each study year. Variability was expressed as Median Odds Ratios (MORs). If the MOR is 1.00, there is no variation between clusters (e.g., pediatricians). If there is considerable between-cluster variation, the MOR will be large. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 210,996 children, cared by 738 pediatricians located in the 46 local health districts (LHDs). Before the pandemic, the percentage of children exposed to ICS was almost stable, ranging from 27.3 to 29.1%. During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the ICS prescription prevalence dropped to 17.0% (p < 0.001). In each study year, a relevant (p < 0.001) variability was detected among both LHDs and pediatricians working in the same LHD. However, the variability among individual pediatricians was always higher. In 2020, the MOR among pediatricians was 1.77 (95% CI: 1.71-1.83) whereas the MOR among LHDs was 1.29 (1.21-1.40). Furthermore, MORs remained stable over time, and no differences were detected in ICS prescription variability before and after pandemic outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: If on one hand the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic indirectly caused the reduction in ICS prescriptions, on the other the variability in ICS prescribing habits among both LHDs and pediatricians remained stable over the whole study time span (2017-2020), showing no differences between pre- pandemic and pandemic periods. The intra-regional drug prescribing variability underlines the lack of shared guidelines for appropriate ICS therapy in preschool children, and raises equity issues in access to optimal care.
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COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Humans , Child, Preschool , Pandemics , COVID-19/epidemiology , Communicable Disease Control , Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use , Administration, InhalationABSTRACT
Prior to Covid-19, businesses offering enrichment activities for pre-school aged children were saturating the early years (0–5 years) market. However, the pandemic caused sudden changes to family routines with regular leisure activities cancelled. Using Lareau's theory of concerted cultivation as a framework, we explored how physical activity (PA) was managed by parents of pre-school children and how routines changed during the pandemic. A UK national online survey was completed by 925 parents. Sixteen tailored, follow-up semi-structured interviews were undertaken with parents. Due to the nature of the pandemic and the age range of the young children, it was the parents who ultimately made decisions about PA, and it was parents who had to adapt, often to a challenging set of circumstances. Our data suggests many parents sought to utilise informal play and online PA during the lockdown periods with mixed levels of success. For those that attended baby, toddler, and pre-school sport sessions provided by commercial businesses prior to lockdown, the vast majority were eager to resume their in-person classes as opposed to continuing online. Parents perceived a wider range of benefits and cultivation for their child if they attended such classes in person (e.g. expert delivery, socialisation, and routine). [ FROM AUTHOR]
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BACKGROUND: Daytime sleep during the preschool years (i.e., 1-5-years-old) is characterized by high inter-child variability in several components of nap behavior, including nap duration, nap timing, and the proportion of sleep during daytime. We used an empirical approach to examine variations amongst children in these aspects of napping and investigated correlates of these components of nap behavior. METHODS: A large, nationally representative sample (N = 702) of Canadian parents completed an online survey, including a one-month retrospective report of their 1.5-5 year old's daytime and nighttime sleep behavior and other questionnaires. To understand patterns of children's nap behaviors we applied Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to typical nap duration, typical timing of naps, frequency of naps, proportion of sleep during the daytime, and the proportion of naps which were spontaneous (i.e., child just fell asleep). Then, multinominal logistic regression was used to examine correlates of profile membership. RESULTS: Four profiles of children emerged: (1) regular nappers; (2) intermittent nappers; (3) spontaneous nappers; and (4) non-nappers. After controlling for demographic variables (e.g., child age, sex, ethnicity) and known correlates of napping behaviors (e.g., birthweight, nighttime sleep duration), profile membership was related to parents' beliefs about napping, parents' own nap behaviors, family functioning, and child nighttime sleep problems in a multinominal logistic regression. CONCLUSIONS: An empirical approach aided in understanding the inter-child variability in napping amongst preschool-age children. Parental beliefs about napping and the home environment were shown to be critical factors influencing this variability.