Maristella Lucchini, Aly (Sooyeon) Suh, Shambhavi Thakur, Rebecca Robbins, Natalie Barnett
Presented at ESRS 2024
Introduction
Sleep disturbance is common among new parents and the factors contributing to this high prevalence are complex, including inconsistent and/or fragmented infant nocturnal sleep, and/or poor mental health or sleep habits. Another factor which has not been extensively investigated in new parents are pre-sleep behaviors such as bedtime procrastination (BP), which is the delay of sleep, despite absence of external demands. BP has been linked with poor sleep outcomes and difficulty with emotional regulation in other populations. We contribute to this nascent literature by examining associations between BP, insomnia symptoms and emotional regulation among new parents.
Methods
We recruited 468 parents of infants 4-24 months old among Nanit camera owners (83% mothers). Participants completed the BP Scale (BPS),and the Insomnia severity scale (ISI) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), which is composed of subscales (e.g., difficulty engaging in goal directed behavior). Individuals scoring <7 on the ISI were classified into the healthy group (N=113); those scoring between 7-14 into the subthreshold insomnia group (N=244), those scoring >15 into the moderate/severe insomnia group (N=70). Data were analyzed using linear and multinomial logistic regressions, depending on variable structure, controlling for age of the infant and whether the parent was the mother or the father.
Results
Higher BPS scores were predictive of higher scores on DERS subscales, including nonacceptance of emotional responses (B=0.26,SE=0.077,t(353)=3.33,p=0.001), difficulty engaging in goal directed behavior (B=0.12,SE=0.059,t(353)=2.088,p=0.04), limited access to emotion regulation strategies (B=0.24,SE=0.081,t(353)=2.96,p=0.003) and lack of emotional clarity (B=0.11,SE=0.046,t(353)=2.42,p=0.02). Compared to the healthy group, the moderate/severe insomnia group had significantly higher scores on the BPS (OR=1.16,CI1.074-1.26), and higher scores for nonacceptance of emotional responses, impulse control difficulties, limited access to emotion regulation strategies, and lack of emotional clarity.
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Results on significant associations between insomnia groups and DERS subscales |
B |
SE |
t |
p |
|
Nonacceptance of emotional responses |
4.68 |
0.98 |
4.78 |
<0.001 |
|
Impulse control difficulties |
2.93 |
0.76 |
3.87 |
<0.001 |
|
Limited access to emotion regulation strategies |
4.14 |
1.02 |
4.046 |
<0.001 |
|
Lack of emotional clarity |
1.71 |
0.59 |
2.91 |
0.004 |
|
df=351 |
||||
Conclusion
These results demonstrate that parents who report moderate/severe symptoms of insomnia and higher BP scores demonstrated poorer emotional regulation strategies compared to parents with no insomnia symptoms. This highlights the importance of investigating further BP behaviors among new parents to develop interventions that could improve their sleep and mental health.
About the Researchers
The researchers included Maristella Lucchini, Aly (Sooyeon) Suh, Shambhavi Thakur, Rebecca Robbins, and Natalie Barnett.
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Dr. Maristella Lucchini serves as Senior Clinical Researcher at Nanit. In her role, Maristella works to secure grant funding in collaboration with Nanit’s university research partners and supports the development of the company’s research collaborations around the world. Previously, Maristella served as an Assistant Research Scientist in the Division of Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center where she led projects across several cohorts focusing on sleep health for pregnant and postpartum women and their children. Maristella’s research focused on underserved communities and sleep health disparities in the perinatal period. During her years as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Department of Psychiatry, Maristella was selected to participate in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Young Investigator Research Forum. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.
- Dr. Sooyeon (Aly) Suh is a clinical health psychologist and professor of psychology at Sungshin University, Dept. of Psychology. Broadly, her main interests lie in understanding how behavioral and psychological factors interact with physical health and eventually develop into chronic illness. Her specific interests are in behavioral sleep medicine, especially developing psychological treatments for sleep disorders. She is also very interested in women's mental health issues.
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Shambhavi Thakur serves as Clinical Research Data Analyst at Nanit. She holds a Masters degree in Health Informatics and Life Sciences. She oversees the research collaborations with various universities and analyzes sleep data for internal as well as external studies.
- Dr. Natalie Barnett serves as VP of Clinical Research at Nanit. Natalie initiated sleep research collaborations at Nanit and in her current role, Natalie oversees collaborations with researchers at hospitals and universities around the world who use the Nanit camera to better understand pediatric sleep and leads the internal sleep and development research programs at Nanit. Natalie holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of New England in Australia and a Postgraduate Certificate in Pediatric Sleep Science from the University of Western Australia. Natalie was an Assistant Professor in the Neurogenetics Unit at NYU School of Medicine prior to joining Nanit. Natalie is also the voice of Nanit's science-backed, personalized sleep tips delivered to users throughout their baby's first few years.