Abstract Introduction Bedtime routines, especially those that include physical contact and reading, are a highly effective strategy for supporting children’s sleep from infancy to middle childhood. However, there is limited evidence that bedtime routines predict better sleep into adolescence and young adulthood, when significant biological and social changes result in shorter and more variable sleep. Methods The analytic sample was 484 youth (50% boys, 43.8% Black, 24.4% Hispanic/Latino, 20% White, 7.6% Other/Mixed race) and their mothers from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. A subsample of 253 young adults was used to assess sleep at age 22. Bedtime communication (e.g., reading, singing) and physical contact (e.g., cuddling/rubbing the child’s back, comfort object) were measured with a “Yes/No” checklist when children were three years old. Objective sleep was assessed when youth were 15 and 22 years old with actigraphy. Eight sleep variables were derived: time in bed, minutes, efficiency, wake after sleep onset (WASO), and variability in parameters. All models accounted for mother-reported sleep hours at age 9, child sex-assigned-at-birth, race, and income:needs. Models assessing sleep variability accounted for average sleep, and models with age-22 sleep accounted for age-15 sleep. Results Multiple regression analyses in STATA 18 showed that communication activities at age three were associated with less variability in time in bed (-9.56, p = .04) and variability in sleep minutes (-8.76, p = .035) at age 15. Physical contact activities at age three were associated with higher average sleep efficiency (.71, p = .015) and lower average WASO, at age 15 (-3.17, p = .038). Associations were not detected at age 22. Conclusion Activities within a bedtime routine appear to serve different functions. Communication activities may support healthy sleep schedules, and physical contact activities may support sleep quality into adolescence. As youth move into young adulthood, increased independence, work and school stress may have stronger effects on sleep than early childhood bedtime routines. Psychoeducation on the multiple ways to engage in physical contact (e.g., back rub, comfort object) and communication (e.g., reading, music) may help parents personalize bedtime routines to their own and their child’s needs and preferences. Support (if any) R01HD036916, 5R01HD073352, R25HD074544, R01HD036916
Martín‐Piñón et al. (Fri,) studied this question.