"IT'S TIME FOR BED": EFFECTS OF PARENTING PRACTICES IN TRADING SLEEP ON SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that relative to their Western counterparts, children in Singapore sleep less during infancy and early childhood. However, little is known regarding the sleep timing and duration of Singaporean school-age children. Moreover, the associations these sleep behaviours have with parenting practices concerning activities that compete with sleep for time, as well as with daytime sleepiness and academic performance, has not yet been examined. In this cross-sectional survey with a sample of 251 parents each with a school-age child in Singapore (age: 7-12 years), it was found that the more the parents traded their child’s sleep for other activities (e.g. studying, social media, gaming), the later the child’s bedtime and the shorter the child’s sleep duration. Furthermore, later bedtimes and shorter sleep durations were significantly associated with increased daytime sleepiness and poorer academic performance. These findings suggest that parents play a crucial role in determining the sleep behaviour of their school-age children, which may subsequently have a strong impact on their children’s academic achievement – ironically, the very entity that many parents value over sleep.