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Parental conflict 'affects baby sleep patterns'
Author: Jonathan Warren
Conflict between parents of children between the ages of nine and 18 months resulted in youngsters having trouble sleeping, according to new research carried out in the US.
Professor of psychology at Pennsylvania State University Jenae M Neiderhiser led the study, using adoptive families because researchers could then focus on environmental factors instead of genetic traits.
The study, published in the journal Child Development, was directed at 357 sets of adoptive parents both together and separately. From here, both habits and emotions were assessed alongside their children's behaviours. Parents were interviewed twice; first when their children were nine months of age, then once again after 18 months.
Prof Neiderhiser explained: "It is important to understand how parenting comes in to play here. Looking at the marital relationship is not direct parent-child interaction, but it is an index of stress in the family.
"Our study suggests that marital instability is impacting change in the child's sleep patterns over time, and it could be that this is setting the child up for a pattern of problematic sleep."
