Citation

Fisher A, van Jaarsveld CH, Llewellyn CH, Wardle J. Pediatrics 2012; 129(6): 1091-1096.

Affiliation

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Health Behaviour Research Centre, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2011-1571

PMID

22585775

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Sleep duration is attracting increasing attention in relation to chronic disease risk, but few large-scale studies have investigated the determinants of sleep characteristics in early life. In this study we used data from a large, population-based twin study to examine genetic and environmental influences on sleep duration and sleep difficulties in infancy.METHODS:Participants were 1931 pairs of young twins (3862 children) from the Gemini twin birth cohort. Sleep patterns were assessed at 15 months by using a modification of the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire completed by parents. Outcomes included nighttime and daytime sleep duration and frequency of night waking.RESULTS:Twin analyses showed that nighttime sleep duration was predominantly influenced by the shared environment (66%, confidence interval [CI] 63%-70%) with a modest genetic effect (26%, CI 22%-30%). A similar pattern was observed for daytime nap duration (shared environment: 57%, CI 53%-62%; genetic effect: 37%, CI 33%-41%) and sleep disturbance (shared environment: 55%, 44%-64%) with a genetic effect of 40% (30%-51%). These estimates were similar for boys and girls.CONCLUSIONS:These results indicate an important contribution of the shared family environment as well as genes to children's sleep behavior. There is a need for research to identify specific environmental determinants that could provide targets for interventions to improve sleep quality.

Language: en