Sleep problems from 18 months to 6 years: A mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology?

Parental psychopathology is a robust predictor of psychopathology in children and has been shown to operate via both genetic and environmental pathways. Childhood sleep problems may serve a mediating role in these pathways via... [ view full abstract ]

Parental psychopathology is a robust predictor of psychopathology in children and has been shown to operate via both genetic and environmental pathways. Childhood sleep problems may serve a mediating role in these pathways via bioregulatory mechanisms. Although parental psychopathology is associated with child sleep problems and psychopathology, it is unclear whether sleep problems serve as a mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology.

We examined the potential mediating role of child sleep problems from 18 months to 6 years of age on associations between birth parent and adoptive parent depressive symptoms and child emotional and behavioral disorders in a longitudinal prospective parent-offspring adoption sample (N = 561 linked triads). We included parental depressive symptoms due to the genetic overlap between depressive symptoms and sleep problems and environmental associations between parental depression and child sleep problems. We examined: (1) associations between birth and adoptive parent depressive symptoms and child emotional and behavioral disorders; and (2) whether sleep problems mediated associations between depressive symptoms and child emotional and disruptive behavior disorders.

Analyses identified significant associations between birth mothers’ depressive symptoms and the number of child emotional and disruptive behavior disorders diagnosed on the PAPA at age 6 (cohort 2) or 8 (cohort 1) (β = .11; p < .05). Adoptive mother depressive symptoms significantly predicted child sleep problems (β = .20; p < .001) and sleep problems significantly predicted the number of child emotional and disruptive behavior disorders (β = .36; p < .001). The indirect effect between adoptive mother depressive symptoms and child emotional and disruptive behavior disorders via child sleep was significant (β = .07; p < .05). Thus, birth mothers’ depressive symptoms were directly associated with child emotional and behavioral disorders whereas adoptive mothers’ depressive symptoms were indirectly associated with child emotional and behavioral disorders via child sleep problems.