New research led by scientists at Penn State College of Medicine states children with insomnia symptoms are likely to persist with them as young adults and are significantly more likely to develop an insomnia disorder in early adulthood compared to children who do not have difficulty sleeping.
Published in the journal ‘Paediatrics’, the study is the first long-term cohort study to describe the developmental trajectories of childhood insomnia symptoms through adolescence and into young adulthood. Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health, said, “Young adulthood is a stage in life where there is a documented increase in the severity and prevalence of physical and mental health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and suicide rates.”
He added, “Sleep disorders, especially sleep apnea and insomnia, are linked with poorer cardiovascular and mental health. Given that up to 25 per cent of children, 35 per cent of adolescents and 45 per cent of young adults suffer from insomnia symptoms, we were interested in learning how these symptoms evolve over time as the child grows into adulthood.”
The teams designed a random, population-based study of children, ages 5 to 12 years which started in 2000. Children and their parents provided reports of the children’s insomnia symptoms, defined as moderate-to-severe difficulties initiating and/or maintaining sleep. The team found that 43 per cent of children with insomnia symptoms continued to suffer through adolescence into adulthood. Although about 27 per cent of children with insomnia symptoms experienced remission of symptoms by adolescence, close to 19 per cent experienced a waxing and waning pattern into adulthood.
Among children without insomnia symptoms, about 15 per cent of them developed insomnia symptoms in the transition to adolescence and persisted with them into adulthood, and another 21 per cent newly developed them in young adulthood. In addition, about 16 per cent of these children without insomnia symptoms experienced a waxing-and-waning pattern.
