Sleep can affect a child's attitude and behavior, as many parents can attest, but a consistent bedtime may be more influential than sleep quality or duration, according to a new publication authored by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development and Penn State College of Medicine.
The study, published Nov. 8 in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, showed that children who followed a consistent bedtime routine and fell asleep at the same time each night displayed better control of their emotions and behavior when they were under stress or working with others.
Adwoa Dadzie, doctoral student in biobehavioral health, and Orfeu Buxton, the Elizabeth Fenton Susman Professor of Biobehavioral Health and Dadzie's doctoral adviser, led a team who analyzed sleep and behavior data from 143 six-year-old children in the Penn State Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) study.
