(PS13-D90) Maternal Depression and Infant Sleeping Arrangements

Parental or caregiver bedtime practices, including how and where a child is put to sleep, are associated with infant nighttime sleep outcomes. Specifically, greater caregiver bedtime involvement (e.g., rocking a child to sleep) and non-independent sleeping arrangements (e.g., child sleeping in caregiver bed) are linked with reduced infant nighttime sleep duration. It is critical to better understand factors that drive such caregiver bedtime practices for their children. One potential influence relates to caregiver psychological or mental health. Prior research has identified caregivers with clinical levels of generalized anxiety and depression as being more likely to engage in bedtime practices linked with adverse child nighttime sleep outcomes. More research is needed to examine which bedtime practices may be impacted by caregiver mental health. The present study aimed to assess how maternal depression is associated with infant nighttime sleeping arrangement and caregiver bedtime involvement.

We followed 1260 women (M age = 28.5, SD = 5.3) enrolled in the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA; cohort 2) through the first two years of their child’s life. Mothers were recruited through community-based advertising and engagement in north and north-central Appalachia (i.e., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and West Virginia). Mothers completed the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) 10 weeks postpartum to assess different infant nighttime sleeping arrangements (i.e., child in crib a separate room and child in caregiver room or bed) and various forms of caregiver bedtime sleep involvement (feeding child to sleep, rocking child to sleep, holding child to sleep, child falling asleep in bed near caregiver, and child falling asleep in bed alone). Maternal depression severity was measured via the Center for Epidemiological Survey-Depression Scale (CES-D). One-way ANOVA analyses examined differences between caregiver bedtime practices by maternal depression.

Regarding infant sleeping arrangement, 16.8% of infants slept in a separate room in their crib. Additionally, 12.8% of infants fell asleep without caregiver bedtime sleep involvement. Maternal depression severity was significantly associated with factors of infant nighttime sleeping arrangement [F (1, 848) = 6.02, p = 0.014]. Specifically, greater maternal depression severity was linked with infants sleeping in their caregiver’s room or caregiver’s bed (M = 8.36; SD = 8.86), and less maternal depression severity was linked with infants sleeping in their crib in a separate room (M = 6.66; SD = 6.76). No association between maternal depression and any caregiver bedtime sleep involvement variables was found.

Maternal depression severity is connected with the nighttime sleeping arrangements of 10-week-old infants. Depressive symptomatology may influence which nighttime sleeping arrangements caregivers of infants are willing or comfortable enacting. Conversely, specific infant nighttime sleeping arrangements, especially those in which caregivers and infants share a room/bed, may negatively impact caregiver mental health. Future research is needed to clarify the mechanisms involved in the link between caregiver mental health and bedtime practices.