ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of a treatment program for severely sleep-disturbed children on their daytime interaction with their mothers. METHOD: Twenty-eight children with serious sleep problems and 30 matched controls, aged 12 to 36 months, were compared on behavior rating scales, on sleep patterns, and during play and feeding interactions with their mothers before and after an intervention program. RESULTS: After treatment the sleep-disturbed children improved in their behavior, in their sleep patterns, and during feeding interactions with their mothers. However, the behavior of the children but not that of their mothers improved. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate that a brief behavioral intervention program focused on helping families manage children with sleep disturbances can generalize to daytime mother-child interactions. This suggests that a compromised relationship in early life may be modified by rather simple interventions since changes of one behavioral system may modify the total relationship of young children with those caring for them.
Subject(s)
Behavior Therapy , Child Behavior Disorders/therapy , Circadian Rhythm , Sleep Wake Disorders/therapy , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Child, Preschool , Father-Child Relations , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Mother-Child Relations , Personality Assessment , Sleep Wake Disorders/psychology , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
This study examines the accuracy of parents' reports about their children's sleep behavior and their response to a behavioral treatment. Twenty-eight sleep-disordered and thirty control children aged 12-36 months were filmed during three nights using an infrared camera and their sleep behavior compared with parental reports. There were significant differences among the groups with parents of good sleepers being less accurate in reporting on their children's sleep behavior. Poor sleepers also had more behavior problems, a more difficult temperament and more adverse early medical histories. The good sleepers woke up as frequently as the poor sleepers. However, they managed to soothe themselves back to sleep without disturbing anyone. Virtually all poor sleepers showed significant improvement following treatment.
