Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts

Monday, June 8, 2009

The Genetics of Insomnia in Children & Teens

A study (#0808) being presented later this morning as a poster examined the genetic heritability of insomnia in a sample of twins. Results show a moderate heritability in children between 8 and 16 years of age, with significant genetic effects shared between insomnia, depression and anxiety. This suggests that overlapping genetic mechanisms may underlie these three disorders and may help explain why insomnia is so common in people who have depression and anxiety.

You can
download the SLEEP 2009 abstract supplement as an 11 MB file in PDF format.

Studies Examine Sleep Problems in Children

Two studies being presented today focus on sleep and childhood.

A study (#0304) being presented later this morning as a poster suggests that napping may have a significant influence on young children’s daytime functioning. Results indicate that children between the ages of 4 and 5 who did not take daytime naps were reported by their parents to exhibit higher levels of hyperactivity, anxiety and depression than children who continued to nap at this age.

Another study (#0197) being presented this afternoon as an oral presentation reports that primary care pediatricians may be under-diagnosing sleep disorders in children and teens. Results show that less than four percent of children at 32 primary care pediatric practices were diagnosed with a sleep disorder, which is significantly lower than prevalence rates reported in epidemiological studies.

You can download the SLEEP 2009 abstract supplement as an 11 MB file in PDF format.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Sleep Problems Linked to Depression and Anxiety

Research abstracts being presented as poster presentations this morning at SLEEP 2008 show a link between sleep problems and emotional disturbances.

A study (ID# 0204) compared 122 children who have major depression with 200 healthy peers. Eighty-two percent of depressed children reported a sleep problem, compared to only five percent of controls.

A study of children in grades 2 – 5 (ID# 0269) found that children at risk for sleep-disordered breathing are more likely than their peers to have anxiety (19.7 percent vs. 7.3 percent).

A study of 14 mothers of twins (ID# 0374) shows that more than 70 percent had severe postpartum sleep restriction of less than six hours of sleep in 24 hours. About half of the women also reported mild to severe depression symptoms.

The SLEEP 2008 abstract book is available online at http://www.journalsleep.org/PDF/AbstractBook2008.pdf.