Abstract Introduction Parent-reported sleep (bedtime, sleep duration, night wakings, problems) has been associated with toddler social-emotional problems. However, most studies have relied on a single reporter for both child sleep and social-emotional problems in predominantly middle-class, non-Latino White families. Therefore, this study included both objective and subjective assessments of toddler sleep, along with parent generational status and mood, when examining correlates of risk for social-emotional problems among Mexican American toddlers. Methods 238 mothers (18-45 years; mean education 12.4+2.8 years; 60% first generation) of Mexican American toddlers (56% boys; 12-16 months) completed the following surveys (53% in Spanish): Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ), the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA), and the PROMIS Depression short-form. Toddlers wore an actigraph for 7 nights to measure nighttime sleep. Logistic regression examined BITSEA risk for social-emotional problems based on validated clinical cutoffs, and included actigraphy and parent-reported sleep variables that were correlated with the social-emotional problem total score. We controlled for demographic (child age and sex, parent age and education years) and contextual (generational status first generation born in Mexico, PROMIS Depression T-score) factors. Results Neither actigraphic nor parent-reported sleep variables were significantly associated with risk for social-emotional problems (all ps .15). In contrast, each 1-point increase in parent age was associated with an 11% increase in the odds of toddler risk for social-emotional problems (OR=1.11, p.001) and each additional year of parent education was associated with a 30% increase in the odds of toddler risk for social-emotional problems (OR=1.30, p.001). Finally, each 1-point increase in parent depressive symptoms T-score was associated with a 6% decrease in the odds of toddler risk for social-emotional problems (OR=0.94; p=.006). Conclusion Contrary to previous studies, objectively and subjectively measured toddler sleep were not associated with risk for social-emotional problems in this sample of Mexican American toddlers when controlling for demographic and contextual factors. The demographic findings, although counterintuitive, may reflect heightened awareness or reporting of social-emotional problems among older, more educated caregivers. While sleep remains essential for child development, it must be considered within the context of family ecology when considering the risk of early social-emotional problems in community-based samples. Support (if any) R01HL163859
Thompson et al. (Fri,) studied this question.