Sleep and attachment in early childhood: a series of meta-analyses

Abstract

Empirical findings regarding the association between child attachment and sleep have been inconsistent. The objectives of this series of meta-analyses were to assess the size of the association between child sleep and attachment and to examine whether study methodology (attachment measure, sleep measure) and age moderate this association. Sixteen studies (2783 children aged from 6 to 38 months) were included. Significant associations were found between attachment security and sleep efficiency (r = .18) and attachment resistance and sleep problems (r = .18). There were significant moderator effects of sleep measure and age of the child, with the size of the association between sleep and attachment security increasing with age (R analog = .67). Inconsistent findings are likely due to inter-study variabilities in methodology and to a developmental effect on the sleep-attachment association.

Infant crying problems and symptoms of sleeping problems predict attachment disorganization at 18 months

“…There were no significant direct associations between crying and sleeping problems and formation of insecure attachment, but there was a small indirect association between crying and sleeping problems and insecure attachment via higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms at 6 months. Our finding is in accordance with Simard et al (2017) who found no association between sleep and secure attachment when sleep was assessed before 15 months of age. Further, our finding is consistent with attachment theory, which postulates that the development of insecure attachment patterns is predominantly explained by mothers' ability to be sensitive to their infants' cues rather than infant-related characteristics (Ainsworth et al, 1978;Bowlby, 1969).…”

“…Even if they do wake, they may be less anxious and so easily fall back to sleep, whereas infants who have problems settling to sleep and wake up frequently during the night are likely to be more anxious about night-time separation. Indeed, a recent meta-analysis of 16 studies found that sleep problems were significantly associated with both secure and in particular, insecure-resistant attachment (Simard et al, 2017). However, this meta-analysis study did not evaluate disorganized attachment and the majority of included studies assessed sleep on 12-month old infants or older.…”

“…Several longitudinal studies showed that co-existing crying and sleeping problems result in adverse negative impacts on behavior such as externalizing problems in childhood, adolescence and even into adulthood (Bilgin et al, 2018;Choe, Sameroff, & McDonough, 2013;Hyde, O'Callaghan, Bor, Williams, & Najman, 2012;Price, Wake, Ukoumunne, & Hiscock, 2012;Sheridan et al, 2013;Sidor et al, 2013;Sivertsen et al, 2015). In contrast, there is only emerging evidence of adverse associations between the existence of crying problems and symptoms of sleeping problems during the early months of life and difficulties with mother-infant attachment formation (Sadeh et al, 2010;Simard, Chevalier, & Bedard, 2017). Bowlby's (1969) attachment theory has suggested that infants internalize early disruptive experiences with their caregivers, which endure throughout development and influence their psychosocial functioning.…”

Risk factors for sleep problems in infants

“…Ventilation systems may be far from ideal, as high levels of allergens can affect the children's sleep quantity and quality. 18 Maternal education level may affect the way mothers take care of their children. As parenting patterns are closely related to child development, higher parental education may lead to more informed and better care of children, thus positively affecting child development.…”

Pre-emptive Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Theoretical Foundations and Clinical Translation

“…The link between sleep problems in very early life and behavioral and sleep problems in later childhood may be, paradoxically, mediated by the widespread sociocultural and clinical application of sleep training or FWB strategies, resulting in cascades of both parent and infant chronic SNS-HPA hyperarousal (Simard et al, 2017; Williams et al, 2017; Ball et al, 2018). FWB approaches also disrupt the dyadic synchrony of the circadian clock, by promoting long blocks of sleep during the day (Thomas et al, 2014).…”