Abstract
Objectives
Research examining factors contributing to preschool sleep problems is limited. This study investigated the mediating role of parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting) in the relationship between parental psychological distress and sleep problems in young children.
Methods
Participants were parents of 232 young children aged three to five years. Parents completed the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire, the Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire—Short Version, and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale.
Results
Only permissive parenting was found to significantly mediate the relationship between parental distress and preschool sleep problems (indirect effect = 0.16, p < 0.01), with a significant direct effect of parental psychological distress on child sleep problems (0.16, p < 0.01) also being present. Authoritarian and authoritative parenting were found to be unrelated to child sleep problems.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that augmenting treatment programs for preschool sleep problems with strategies targeting parental distress and permissive parenting where required, may be beneficial in improving preschool sleep problems.
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Author Contributions
D.T.: designed and executed the study, performed the data analyses, and wrote the first draft of the paper. C.L.D.: collaborated with the design and writing of the paper, and final manuscript edits and resubmission. S.S.: collaborated with the study design and data collection. A.L.S.: collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. S.A.W.: collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of Griffith University (reference number 2017/713) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Tyler, D., Donovan, C.L., Scupham, S. et al. Young Children’s Sleep Problems: The Impact of Parental Distress and Parenting Style. J Child Fam Stud 28, 2098–2106 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01429-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01429-1