Abstract Introduction Bed-sharing has been found to promote parent-child bonding and attachment, but it is also linked to more sleep problems in children. However, most studies have only examined bed-sharing in infancy and early childhood. Little is known about the potential benefits or consequences of bed-sharing for school-age children, with even fewer studies using actigraphy to objectively assess the impact of bed-sharing on both child and parent sleep. Methods A total of 246 school-age children aged 6-9 years with overweight or obesity were recruited from 10 public elementary schools in Taipei, Taiwan. Children's sleep was assessed objectively using actigraphy for one week and subjectively using the parent-reported Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire. Parents completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to assess their own sleep, as well as questions about sleep arrangements and family and child characteristics. Results Parent-child bed-sharing was reported by 42.6% of families. Bed-sharing was associated with higher reported child sleep disturbance scores (b = 5.49; 95% CI: 3.86 to 7.12; p .01), but not with child actigraphic sleep profiles (all p .05). No statistically significant differences in parental sleep were found according to bed-sharing, although parents reported poor sleep regardless of child sleep arrangements. Conclusion Parent-child bed-sharing is prevalent among Taiwanese school-age children with overweight and obesity and is related to more reported child sleep disturbances, but not with objective child sleep and parental sleep quality. Healthcare professionals can support parents in making informed decisions about bed-sharing practices in middle childhood while addressing concerns they may have about their child's sleep and their own sleep quality. Support (if any) This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan (MOST 107 - 2314 - B - 002 - 025 - MY3).
Tsai et al. (Fri,) studied this question.