Day-to-day bidirectional associations between sleep and emotion states in early childhood: Importance of end-of-day mood for sleep quality

Objectives: Poor quality sleep can impact emotions and emotion regulation, resulting in a "sleep-mood" cycle where poor sleep affects mood and vice-versa. This relationship is poorly understood during early childhood, when sleep patterns and emotion displays are rapidly changing. This study aimed to understand the day-to-day effects of poor sleep on emotions in preschoolers by using objective (actigraphy) and subjective (ecological momentary assessment) measures to assess both between- and within-child effects. We hypothesized that disrupted sleep would lead to affect disruptions and vice versa.

Methods: This study included 133 preschoolers and their caregivers recruited from the community. Children's sleep was measured via actigraphy (ActiGraph GT3X+) across 1week. Affect was collected concurrently via caregiver report during an ecological momentary assessment protocol. Caregivers reported on their child's affect four times per day: morning, afternoon, early evening, and before bed.

Results: Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that children with sleep disturbances displayed less positive affect overall, more negative affect in the evenings, and alterations in positive affect lability, and that daytime affect was associated with subsequent nighttime sleep. Within-child associations also showed fluctuations in positive affect correlated with shorter sleep durations and later bedtimes.

Conclusions: This study identified both between- and within-child associations between sleep and affect in early childhood, revealing a dynamic and reciprocal relationship between the two. These findings highlight the importance of considering both sleep and affect in early childhood interventions, as promoting positive affect may enhance sleep quality and vice versa.