Association between Maternal Personality Traits and Children’s Sleep Disturbance: A Population-based Cohort Study in Republic of Korea

Abstract

Objective: Sleep affects the development and severity of psychiatric symptoms in children, and maternal personality traits may influence children’s sleep. We aimed to confirm the longitudinal effect of maternal personality traits on children’s sleep disturbance using cohort data from the Panel Study on Korean Children. Methods: Maternal personality traits were assessed using the Personality Assessment Inventory in 2009, and the sleep disturbance of children was assessed using parent survey data from 2010 to 2014 (2nd−6th waves). Among the 11 clinical scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory, the 5 scales that showed the most significant correlations were analyzed. Presence or absence of child sleep disturbance was evaluated with a chi-square test, and the effect of the Personality Assessment Inventory was assessed by a binary logistic regression analysis with child sleep disturbance as the dependent variable. Results: Of the 171 mother-child dyads, 92 were classified into the sleep disturbance group and 79 were classified into the normal sleep group. Maternal somatic concerns showed a significant relationship with children’s sleep disturbance at years 2 and 3. Maternal borderline features demonstrated a significant relationship with children’s sleep disturbance from years 2 to 5. The binary logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between high borderline features and children’s sleep disturbance at years 2 and 3. Conclusion: High maternal borderline features evaluated at child age 1 were related to sleep disturbance in early childhood. In assessing a children’s sleep problems, it may be important to examine mothers’ dysfunctional personality traits.