Shambhavi Thakur, Maristella Lucchini, Emily Oster, Michal Kahn, Natalie Barnett
Presented at ESRS 2024
Introduction
Household chaos, characterized by disorganization, noise, and unpredictability within the home environment, has been linked to adverse outcomes in child development, including disrupted sleep patterns. While numerous studies have demonstrated the influence of household chaos on sleep in older children, limited research specifically examines the relationship between household chaos and objective sleep patterns in toddlers. We aimed to investigate the association between household chaos levels and toddler sleep behavior, bedtime routines, and perceived difficulty at bedtime.
Material and Methods
A total of 393 parents of infants aged 14-23 months (18.14±2.01) residing in the US participated in this study, with 86% being mothers. Household chaos was evaluated using the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS) questionnaire. Parents also reported on the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire-Revised (BISQ-R). Objective measures of total sleep time at night (TST) and bedtime (BT) were collected using Nanit autovideosomnography. Household chaos was categorized into low, moderate/low, and moderate/high levels. Multinomial logistic regression and linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between household chaos and infant sleep patterns and bedtime routines. Infant TST, BT, bedtime routine consistency, and parental perceived difficulty of bedtime were the outcome variables examined.
Results
Toddlers residing in households with moderate/high chaos slept 20 mins less on average (p = 0.032) and had later BT by 20.22 mins on average (p = 0.014) compared to those in low chaos households. Parents from moderate/high levels of household chaos were 6.22 times more likely to perceive their child’s bedtime as somewhat/very difficult (CI 2.008-19.305, p <0.001) and their children were on average 53% less likely to have consistent bedtime routines compared to those in low chaos households (CI 0.255-0.857, p = 0.013).
Conclusion
This study demonstrated that household chaos is significantly associated with infant sleep patterns and bedtime routines. Higher levels of chaos were associated with shorter sleep duration, later bedtime, increased bedtime difficulties, and less consistent bedtime routines. These results highlight the need for interventions which focus on household chaos and sleep patterns in toddlers in the context of one another to promote overall family well being.
About the Researchers
The researchers included Shambhavi Thakur, Maristella Lucchini, Emily Oster, Michal Kahn, and Natalie Barnett.
- 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. 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.
- Professor Emily Oster is a Professor of Economics at Brown University and the author of Expecting Better, Cribsheet and The Family Firm. She holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard. Prior to being at Brown she was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Emily’s academic work focuses on health economics and statistical methods. She is interested in understanding why consumers do not always make “rational” health choices — why do people not eat a fully healthy diet, or pursue all recommended preventative health behaviors? Her work also concerns methods for learning causal effects from observational data. Emily’s books analyze the data behind choices in pregnancy and parenting. Expecting Better analyzes the data behind many common pregnancy rules, and aims to improve decision-making for pregnant women. Cribsheet does the same for early childhood — what does the evidence really say on breastfeeding, co-sleeping or potty training. Finally, The Family Firm takes this approach to parenting in the early school years, looking at data on school, extracurriculars, sleep and also providing a framework to make unexpected decisions and address the logistical challenges of this period of parenting. Emily writes a newsletter called ParentData on data, pregnancy, child rearing and whatever else is on the mind of parents. In recognition of this work, she was named to TIME's list of "The 100 Most Influential People of 2022."
- Dr. Michal Kahn is a sleep researcher and licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in pediatric insomnia and sleep development. She is a senior lecturer (assistant professor) at the School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University, Israel.
- 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.