Using complexity science to understand the role of co-sleeping (bedsharing) in mother-infant co-regulatory processes

Barry, Elaine S.

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101723

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 139 publications

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“…It seems that co-sleeping arrangements might be a B = unstandardized coefficient. Ratio of B relative to the standard deviation of the dependent variable suggests that B = 1.4 is a small effect, B = 3.5 is a medium effect and B = 5.6 is a large effect (Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences; Cohen, 1988) b According to the coding scheme, the intercept is the predicted mean for a parent with a university-level education, no other children, and the infant is sleeping solitarily, as planned c Results for mothers and fathers combined associated with a positive mood in some parents, which is likely due to parent-infant co-regulation of physiological (thermoregulation, breathing, circadian rhythm coordination, nighttime synchrony, and heart rate variability) and socioemotional (attachment and cortisol activity) development, as suggested in a recent conceptual paper (Barry, 2022).…”

Section: Actual Sleep Locationmentioning

confidence: 90%

Parental Depressive Symptoms and Infant Sleeping Arrangements: The Contributing Role of Parental Expectations

et al. 2022

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Studies describing the link between infant sleeping arrangements and postpartum maternal depressive symptoms have led to inconsistent findings. However, expectations regarding these sleeping arrangements were rarely taken into consideration. Furthermore, very few studies on pediatric sleep have included fathers. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to compare maternal and paternal attitudes regarding co-sleeping arrangements and (2) to explore the associations among sleeping arrangements, the discrepancy between expected and actual sleeping arrangements, and depressive symptoms, in mothers and fathers. General attitudes about co-sleeping, sleeping arrangements and the discrepancy between expected and actual sleeping arrangements were assessed using the Sleep Practices Questionnaire (SPQ) in 92 parents (41 couples and 10 parents who participated alone in the study) of 6-month-old infants. Parental depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). Within the same couple, mothers were generally more supportive than fathers of a co-sleeping arrangement (p < 0.01). Multivariate linear mixed model analyses showed that both mothers’ and fathers’ depressive symptoms were significantly associated with a greater discrepancy between the expected and actual sleeping arrangement (small to moderate effect size) (p < 0.05) regardless of the actual sleeping arrangement. These findings shed new light on the conflicting results concerning the link between co-sleeping and parental depressive symptoms reported in the literature. Researchers and clinicians should consider not only actual sleeping arrangements, but also parents’ expectations.

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Section: Actual Sleep Locationmentioning

confidence: 90%