Neighborhood socioeconomic status and child sleep duration: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the associations between neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) and sleep duration in children aged 0-18 years.

Methods: Three electronic databases were searched for relevant articles that assessed nSES and sleep duration (either subjectively or objectively). Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed scholarly articles on the topic area that reported an association between nSES and sleep in children and adolescents.

Results: The database searched identified 6080 potentially eligible studies, of which 1210 were selected for full-text review, and 8 met the inclusion criteria. Data included 67,677 unique participants. Studies were conducted in either the United States of America or Australia. Pooled estimates suggested that poorer nSES was associated with shorter child sleep duration (odds ratio: 1.262; 95% confidence interval: 1.086-1.467). This relationship between nSES and sleep was moderated by sleep assessment type (self-report versus actigraphy), child sex/gender, and child race/ethnicity.

Conclusions: Across studies, there is an association between nSES and child sleep duration. This study adds child sleep to the growing number of child health disparities associated with nSES.