Sleep Moderates the Association Between Response Inhibition and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood
Publication Date
3-2017
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
Keywords
Early childhood, Response inhibition, Self-regulation, Sleep, Developmental changes
Abstract
Early childhood is a time of rapid developmental changes in sleep, cognitive control processes, and the regulation of emotion and behavior. This experimental study examined sleep-dependent effects on response inhibition and self-regulation, as well as whether acute sleep restriction moderated the association between these processes. Preschool children (N = 19; 45.6 ± 2.2 months; 11 female) followed a strict sleep schedule for at least 3 days before each of 2 morning behavior assessments: baseline (habitual nap/night sleep) and sleep restriction (missed nap/delayed bedtime). Response inhibition was evaluated via a go/no-go task. Twelve self-regulation strategies were coded from videotapes of children while attempting an unsolvable puzzle. We then created composite variables representing adaptive and maladaptive self-regulation strategies. Although we found no sleep-dependent effects on response inhibition or self-regulation measures, linear mixed-effects regression showed that acute sleep restriction moderated the relationship between these processes. At baseline, children with better response inhibition were more likely to use adaptive self-regulation strategies (e.g., self-talk, alternate strategies), and those with poorer response inhibition showed increased use of maladaptive self-regulation strategies (e.g., perseveration, fidgeting); however, response inhibition was not related to self-regulation strategies following sleep restriction. Our results showing a sleep-dependent effect on the associations between response inhibition and self-regulation strategies indicate that adequate sleep facilitates synergy between processes supporting optimal social-emotional functioning in early childhood. Although replication studies are needed, findings suggest that sleep may alter connections between maturing emotional and cognitive systems, which have important implications for understanding risk for or resilience to developmental psychopathology.
Copyright Date
9-21-2016
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:
Schumacher, A. M., Miller, A. L., Watamura, S. E., Kurth, S., Lassonde, J. M., & LeBourgeois, M. K. (2017). Sleep moderates the association between response inhibition and self-regulation in early childhood. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 46(2), 222-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1204921
Accepted Manuscript is openly available through the "Link to Full Text" button.
The published Version of Record is available at libraries through Compass or Worldcat.
Rights Holder
Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Provenance
Received from CHORUS
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
15 pgs
File Size
561 KB
Publication Title
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Volume
46
Issue
2
First Page
222
Last Page
235
ISSN
1537-4424
PubMed ID
27652491
Recommended Citation
Schumacher, A. M., Miller, A. L., Watamura, S. E., Kurth, S., Lassonde, J. M., & LeBourgeois, M. K. (2017). Sleep moderates the association between response inhibition and self-regulation in early childhood. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 46(2), 222-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1204921