Child Sleep Problems Affect Mothers and Fathers Differently: How Infant and Young Child Sleep Affects Paternal and Maternal Sleep Quality, Emotion Regulation, and Sleep-Related Cognitions

PURPOSE: Problems in infant and young child sleep can represent a serious challenge to parental behavior of mother and father. However, most research about the effect of infant and young child sleep on parenting has focused on mothers. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the perception and consequences of infant and young child sleep problems of both parents. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Participants were recruited via random sampling at, eg, kindergartens in North Rhine Westphalia. The sample includes data of heterosexual German-speaking couples with children without any medical or psychopathological problems. For this study, parents were asked to complete the test battery with regard to their youngest child. As sampling was via the kindergarten, the range of child age was 4–68 months. A survey assessed data of parents (N=196, 46% female). The test battery contained the following questionnaires: Children Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Self-Report Measure for the Assessment of Emotion Regulation Skills (SEK-27), and a German version of the Infant Sleep Vignettes Interpretation Scale (ISVIS). For the outcome variables of parental sleep as well as for parental emotional competence, the statistical tests of ANOVA were used, and for parental sleep-related cognitions with the grouping variables of infant and young child sleep as well as parental gender, a MANOVA was used. According to the analysis of group differences, the age of the child was also included additional to the grouping variable of parental gender and children’s sleep. RESULTS: Mothers and fathers in this sample were equally aware of their children’s sleep problems and reported similar sleep quality and emotion regulation themselves (all p > 0.05). Mothers as well as fathers of children with sleep problems had lower parental sleep quality (F(1, 183) = 110.01, p < 0.001) and emotion regulation (F(1, 184) = 143.16, p < 0.001) compared to parents of children without sleep problems. In children under 26 months of age, the child’s age seemed to have less negative impact on the father’s sleep quality (F(1, 183) = 5.01, p < 0.001) and emotion regulation (F(1, 184) = 0.72, p < 0.05) than on the outcomes of the mother. With regard to sleep-related cognition, there were statistically significant effects of parental gender (F(2, 185) = 44.39, p < 0.001) and interaction effects of parental gender × child sleep problems observed (F(2, 185) = 31.91, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The conclusion from this survey refers to the role of the father. According to the results, an association between paternal emotional competence, sleep quality as well as their sleep-related cognitions and infants and toddlers sleep behavior could be assumed in addition to and independent of the results of mothers. We would highlight the urgent need of inclusion of fathers in infant and developmental sleep research. In the context of sleep intervention, both parents should be provided with ongoing support to improve their sleep quality and competence in emotion regulation.