Parents Who Sleep Poorly Overestimate Their Children's Sleep Problems

Diagnostic decisions in pediatrics often rely on parent reports of their child's signs and symptoms, but reliability of such reports can vary. Sleep problems in parents and children have been linked, but the causal relationship is unclear, and the role of parental reporting biases unknown.

In a study of 100 children aged 4 to 6 years recruited from daycare centers in Finland, researchers compared parents' reports of their own and their children's sleep quality and objective measurement of the children's sleep for 7 nights. Parents filled out sleep diaries and questionnaires; children's sleep was measured objectively by actigraphy (with a wrist-worn device that detects motion). Possible confounders analyzed included parental mental health and…