Children’s Sleep Problems Can Lead To School Problems

Posted on December 18, 2007 in Latest News

It is natural that children who have difficulties in sleeping are likely to have problems in school. Studies report if a child misses 2 to 3 hours of sleep every night for a week, he/she significantly faces performance and mood problems.

A new study conducted at Auburn University and Notre Dame University on African-American children and children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds shows that African-American children perform worse than their counterparts when their sleep is disrupted.

The study says that sleep deprivation and children’s performance may differ among children of different backgrounds.

The researchers conducted the study on 166 African-American and European-American children aged between 8 to 9 years old from various socioeconomic backgrounds.

The children’s sleep habits were measured through wristwatch-sized activity monitors that they wore during sleep for one week, sleep diaries of bedtimes and wake-up times, and sleep quality reports and sleep-related problems during the day.

The researchers also made individual cognitive tests on each child which showed the mental functions of children related to school achievements.

Results of the study:

• When children’s socioeconomic status was taken into consideration, the study found that both African-American and European-American children’s performance on cognitive tests was similar when they slept well. But when there was disruption in sleep, the study found poor performance of African-American children than their counterparts.
• Similarly, the performance of children from lower and higher socioeconomic backgrounds was same when they slept well. But when there was disruption in sleep, children from higher-income homes did better than children from lower-income homes.
• However, the study did not tell why African-American children from lower-income homes may be more vulnerable to the effects of sleep disruption.

A note to parents:How children’s sleep problems lead to school problems?

• Children’s sleep problems can impair their memory making them difficult to learn and remember things.
• It deteriorates their brain’s ability to process information.
• It drops their concentration levels to learn new things or perform daily tasks. .

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