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The Cardinal Edge

Program/Event

Arts and Research Showcase 2025

Abstract

Stress influences sleep patterns, as elevated stress levels can decrease adequate sleep. However, research on this relationship in preschool-aged children is limited. The current study examined the relationship between stress and sleep in preschool-aged children and sought to evaluate associations between children’s stress and sleep, as well as parental psychopathology (i.e., anxiety and depression). Participants included N = 609 parents and their children ages three to five at Time 1. 368 of whom participated again when children were ages six to eight years old at Time 2. Participants completed study questionnaires, and children’s hair samples were taken to assess cortisol levels. The degree of children’s sleep problems was negatively associated with parents’ education at Time 1 and parents’ income at Time 2. Additionally, at Time 2, children’s sleep problems were associated with race and parents’ marital status, with children of color and of parents who were not married or living together having parent-reported elevated sleep problems. Children’s hair cortisol concentration (HCC) and stressful life events were not significantly associated with children’s sleep problems at Time 1 or Time 2. Parents’ perceived stress was significantly associated with children’s sleep problems at Time 2, but not at Time 1, and remained significant while controlling for children’s sleep problems at Time 1 and significant demographic covariates. Parents’ and co-parents’ depression and anxiety did not moderate the relationship between children’s HCC at Time 1 and children’s sleep problems at Time 2. Future studies should further explore stress-sleep relationships in young children.

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