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Sleep patterns and sleep problems in a sample of Spanish schoolchildren

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Abstract

Sleep in children is essential for growth, emotional health and cognitive function. Although it has been described that poor sleep can seriously affect learning capacity, this relationship remains unclear. The purposes were to: (1) describe sleep patterns and sleep problems in schoolchildren; and (2) analyze the relationship between sleep quality and quantity and academic achievement. This study included 330 children aged 8–11 years and who had complete sleep data from 20 primary schools in 20 towns from the Cuenca province, Spain. The Spanish version of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire was used, and parents’ educational level, and academic achievement (final grades) were measured. Analysis of covariance models was used to assess differences in academic achievement by sleep problems and sleep duration categories, controlling for age and parents’ educational level. This study found that 6.1% of the children who participated in our study slept < 9 h/day, and 9.1% of them had sleep problems. Our results showed an inverse trend between sleeping < 9 h/day and having sleep problems with academic achievement, although these differences did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). In this study, a considerable proportion of the schoolchildren sleep less than recommended and have sleep problems. Sleep intervention may be important to prevent sleep problems and insufficient sleep in schoolchildren. Further research is needed to clarify the association of sleep insufficiency and problems with academic performance in schoolchildren.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science-Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha (PII1I09-0259-9898 and POII10-0208-5325), and Ministry of Health (FIS PI081297). Additional funding was obtained from the Research Network on Preventative Activities and Health Promotion (Ref. RD06/0018/0038).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudios Sociosanitarios, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, C/ Santa Teresa Jornet, s/n, 16071, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

    Coral E. Torrijos-Niño, María Jesús Pardo-Guijarro, Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno, Montserrat Solera-Martínez, Lidia Lucas-de la Cruz & Mairena Sánchez-López

  2. Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario, s/n, 16071, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

    María Jesús Pardo-Guijarro

  3. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, 5 y Medio Norte 1670, Talca, Chile

    Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno

  4. Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ronda de Calatrava, 3, 13071, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

    Mairena Sánchez-López

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  1. Coral E. Torrijos-Niño
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  2. María Jesús Pardo-Guijarro
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Correspondence to María Jesús Pardo-Guijarro.

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Torrijos-Niño, C.E., Pardo-Guijarro, M.J., Martínez-Vizcaíno, V. et al. Sleep patterns and sleep problems in a sample of Spanish schoolchildren. Sleep Biol. Rhythms 18, 331–341 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-020-00277-7

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