Sleep Disruptions and Disorders in Children and Adolescents: A Review of the Impact of Parents and Family on Sleeping Behaviors

Abstract

While it is recognized that ensuring adequate sleep is vital in childhood development, typical activities, such television and other electronic media, early school start times, and extracurricular activities, can intrude on sleep time. Parents are faced with the responsibility of either limiting distractions and activities which interfere with sleep, or dealing with the complications of a child who does not receive adequate sleep. Some parents are not equipped with the knowledge of the amount of sleep children require. Certain parents also do not have discipline abilities to effectively manage their child’s behavior to encourage sleep. Effective treatments are available for sleep disturbances in children, but often depend on a parent’s ability to manage sleep behavior in their children. The following paper provides an overview of the significant literature published on sleep disturbances in children (early childhood through adolescence), along with the interrelationship between sleep and the family.