Maternal insomnia and children's family socialization environments

Study objectives: To examine concurrent associations between maternal insomnia and different aspects of the family socialization environment.

Design: Mothers reported on their symptoms of insomnia in a private standardized interview and interviewers evaluated the family socialization environment using the Coder's Inventory.

Setting: Assessments were conducted in participants' homes within the U.K.

Patients or participants: One thousand one hundred sixteen mothers of British children enrolled in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) study were invited to participate when their children were aged 12 years.

Interventions: N/A.

Measurements and results: After controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES), mothers' relationship status, and maternal depression, maternal insomnia was associated with a poorer family socialization environment (β = -0.10, [95% confidence intervals (CI) = -0.16, -0.04], P < 0.001). When family socialization environment subscales were examined, after controlling for family SES, mothers' relationship status, and maternal depression, maternal insomnia was associated with greater chaos (β = 0.09, [95% CI = 0.03, 0.15], P = 0.002), greater child neglect (β = 0.13, [95% CI = 0.07, 0.18], P < 0.001), less happiness (β = -0.13, [95% CI = -0.18, -0.07], P < 0.001), less child stimulation (β = -0.06, [95% CI = -0.11, 0.00], P = 0.043), but not poorer state of the home, such as orderliness (β = -0.04, [95% CI = -0.10, 0.02], P = 0.182).

Conclusions: Maternal insomnia is associated with the family socialization environment. This finding emphasizes the need to consider insomnia in the family context.