Abstract
Background
Sleep problems are common in children and are known to detrimentally affect language and cognitive abilities, as well as academic achievement.
Aims
We aimed to investigate effects of sleep on oral word and non-word reading in a large, cross-sectional sample of children.
Sample
Of 428 children who attended a public psychological science event, 339 children aged 4–14 years (mean 8;10 ± 2;2) took part.
Methods
Parents completed two sleep questionnaires (Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire and Sleep-Disordered Breathing Questionnaire) whilst children completed the Test of Word Reading Efficiency.
Results
Hierarchical multiple linear regression assessed whether parentally reported sleep problems were able to predict word and non-word oral reading speeds as measures of sight word reading and phonemic decoding efficiency, respectively. Children with parent-reported increased sleep-disordered breathing, daytime sleepiness, and shorter sleep latency had poorer performance on the reading task for both words and non-words, as well as the total combined score. The models explained 6–7% of the variance in reading scores.
Conclusions
This study illustrates associations between sleep and word and non-word reading. The small but significant effect is clinically meaningful, especially since adverse factors affecting children’s reading ability are cumulative. Thus, for children with multiple risk factors for poor reading ability, sleep problems may be another avenue for treatment. Since reading ability is a strong predictor of later academic success and life outcomes, our study provides important evidence to suggest that children with sleep problems should also be screened for literacy difficulties, and children with literacy difficulties be screened for sleep problems.
Sleep problems are common in children and are known to detrimentally affect language and cognitive abilities, as well as academic achievement.
Aims
We aimed to investigate effects of sleep on oral word and non-word reading in a large, cross-sectional sample of children.
Sample
Of 428 children who attended a public psychological science event, 339 children aged 4–14 years (mean 8;10 ± 2;2) took part.
Methods
Parents completed two sleep questionnaires (Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire and Sleep-Disordered Breathing Questionnaire) whilst children completed the Test of Word Reading Efficiency.
Results
Hierarchical multiple linear regression assessed whether parentally reported sleep problems were able to predict word and non-word oral reading speeds as measures of sight word reading and phonemic decoding efficiency, respectively. Children with parent-reported increased sleep-disordered breathing, daytime sleepiness, and shorter sleep latency had poorer performance on the reading task for both words and non-words, as well as the total combined score. The models explained 6–7% of the variance in reading scores.
Conclusions
This study illustrates associations between sleep and word and non-word reading. The small but significant effect is clinically meaningful, especially since adverse factors affecting children’s reading ability are cumulative. Thus, for children with multiple risk factors for poor reading ability, sleep problems may be another avenue for treatment. Since reading ability is a strong predictor of later academic success and life outcomes, our study provides important evidence to suggest that children with sleep problems should also be screened for literacy difficulties, and children with literacy difficulties be screened for sleep problems.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e12465 |
Pages (from-to) | 576-593 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | British Journal of Educational Psychology |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 2 Nov 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.
Keywords
- daytime sleepiness
- language
- reading
- sleep
- sleep-disordered breathing
- Original Article
- sleep‐disordered breathing
- Original Articles
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Humans
- Sleep Apnea Syndromes
- Disorders of Excessive Somnolence
- Reading
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Child
- Sleep Wake Disorders/psychology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Developmental and Educational Psychology