0826 Poverty Mediates the Relation Between Bed Sharing and Decreased Toddler Nighttime Sleep Over Six Months. (27th April 2018) - Covington, L B
Abstract: Introduction: Bed sharing (i.e. when a parent and child share a bed/sleeping surface) may be an economic necessity for some low-income families. Little is known about the developmental consequences of bed sharing in toddlerhood. This study examined the relations between poverty, bed sharing and changes in toddler nighttime sleep duration in low-income families. We hypothesized that poverty would be associated with increased risk of bed sharing, which would predict decreases in toddler nighttime sleep over 6 months. Methods: A total of 175 low-income mother-toddler dyads (age 12–32 months) were recruited as part of a larger obesity intervention. At baseline mothers completed The Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ), provided demographic information and an Actical accelerometer was placed on the toddler's non-dominant ankle and removed one week later. Toddlers wore accelerometers again 6 months later. Sleep was extracted from accelerometers using the Sadeh algorithm. Nighttime sleep was defined as sleep that occurred between 20:00-08:00, and income was used to calculate a poverty ratio. A path analysis model in Mplus was conducted to investigate whether bed sharing at 6 months mediated the relation between baseline poverty and nighttime sleep at 6 months. Results: The sample was 68% African American, 70% living below poverty, and 31% bed shared. Toddlers slept an average of 7.75 hours/night at baseline and 7.82 hours/night at 6-month follow-up. Poverty was significantly related to bed sharing (β = -0.433, SE = 0.199, p = .029) and bed sharing predicted decreased sleep (~1 hour/night) at 6 months, controlling for baseline sleep and toddler age (β = -50.436, SE = 8.114, p < .001). The indirect effect was significant (β = 21.821, 95% CI = 6.233, 47.520 p = .029). Conclusion: Bed sharing mediated the relation between poverty and decreased toddler nighttime sleep. Future research should investigate if reducing bed sharing improves toddler sleep among low-income families. Support (If Any): This work was supported by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), R01HD056099.