Acute Restriction of Nocturnal Sleep in Children

Sleep, performance, and sleepiness were evaluated in nine (6 girls, 3 boys) children (ages 11 to 13.2 yr.) with a view toward determining whether children are more sensitive to sleep restriction than adults. In this 3-day study (immediately preceded by 3 adaptive days), sleep was permitted for 10 hr. on the baseline and recovery night, and for 4 hr. on a single restricted night. Effects of sleep restriction and subsequent recovery on nocturnal sleep parameters were very comparable to results seen in adult subjects. No significant effects of the procedure were seen in performance on abbreviated versions of the Wilkinson Addition Test and Williams Word Memory Test or on a listening attention task. Multiple sleep latency tests showed a significant increase with daytime sleepiness following sleep restriction, which persisted into the morning following recovery sleep. Children appear to be able to tolerate a single night of restricted sleep, although they do not recover as rapidly as adult subjects.