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Children from poverty-stricken families vulnerable to effects of poor sleep

May 2010

A research collaboration involving a professor in the College of Education has determined that elementary school-age children from poor families are more vulnerable to the effects of poor sleep than their peers.

The study, "Children's Sleep and Adjustment Over Time: The Role of Socioeconomic Context,'' was conducted by Drs. Mona El-Sheikh and Joseph Buckhalt, postdoctoral fellow Benjamin Hinnant and graduate research assistant Ryan Kelly and funded in part by the National Science Foundation . It appears in the May-June 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.

Buckhalt, Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor and director of training for school psychology in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, Counseling/School Psychology, focuses much of his research on the role sleep plays in children's academic achievement, cognitive processing and emotion and behavior regulation. El-Sheikh is an alumni professor of human development and family studies in Auburn's College of Human Sciences . Hinnant and Kelly also represent the College of Human Sciences.

Their study investigated how sleep disruptions affect children's emotional development. They examined more than 140 children in grades 3-5 whose parents represented a wide array of economic, career and educational backgrounds. The children wore motion sensors at night to help the researchers gain insight into their sleep patterns.

The researchers examined the relationship between the children's sleep and emotional development in grades three and five. They also examined how a child's sleep patterns in third grade related to his or her emotional well-being when they reached fifth grade.

The study found that children from poorer backgrounds experienced higher levels of delinquency, aggression, anxiety, low self-esteem and depression when they slept poorly. When these children slept better, their levels of symptoms were in line with those of other children from non-poor families.

The study revealed a similar pattern for African-American children. Inadequate sleep, when combined with other stressful influences in the lives of low-income and minority children, contributed to higher levels of behavioral problems. The study suggested that a good night of sleep lessened the likelihood of adjustment problems for these children.

Last Updated: May 17, 2011