The relationship between parents’ sleep quality and sleep hygiene and preschool children’ sleep habits

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between parents’ sleep quality and sleep hygiene and preschool children’s sleep habits was examined. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study population consisted of the parents of all preschool children at daycare centers located in Kermanshah Province. Through cluster sampling, 153 parents from 26 daycare centers were selected. In order to assess the quality of sleep and sleep health of parents, Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI) and sleep hygiene index (SHI) were used. As to the status of childrens sleep habits (CSH), the parents also completed child sleep habit questionnaire (CSHQ). Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 25. The non-parametric tests like U Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis’s test, Spearman’s rho, and regression test were used. RESULTS: The mean score of CSHQ from the parents’ viewpoint was 56.34±7.96, which meant a relatively improper sleep habits in the children. The CSH was significantly and directly related to parents’ sleep quality and all of its subscales except two sub-scales (SSQ and HSE). In addition, CSH was directly and significantly related to the parents’ sleep hygiene and its three subscales. The results of multiple linear regression showed that the impact coeffcient of parents’ sleep quality (B=1.02), given the t-value, predicted changes in CSH with 0.99 confidence. CONCLUSION: In general, the results showed that CSH was in a relatively bad state, while it had a direct relationship with parents’ sleep quality and hygiene. To improve CSH, it is possible to improve parents’ sleep quality through implementing proper programs and motivating parents to observe sleep hygiene.