Are Your Children too Impulsive and Emotional? Maybe They Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Jaime Menchén

Are Your Children too Impulsive and Emotional? Maybe They Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep

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It seems that just half an hour of sleep makes a big difference when it comes to children ages 7 to 11. Researchers in Canada have found that kids who were allowed to sleep just a bit more than usual performed much better at school than kids who were deprived almost one hour of sleep over the week.

The study took a sample of 34 kids with no reported sleep problems, and asked their teachers to measure their behavior according to the Conners’ Global Index Scale. Of course, the teachers weren’t told the sleep status of the participants.

The results, as specified in the paper published in Pediatrics, are the following: “(1) A cumulative extension of sleep duration of 27.36 minutes was associated with detectable improvement in Conners’ Global Index–derived emotional lability and restless-impulsive behavior scores of children in school and a significant reduction in reported daytime sleepiness; and (2) a cumulative restriction of sleep of 54.04 minutes was associated with detectable deterioration on such measures.”

“Nobody became a genius, and nobody became crazy,” said lead author Reut Gruber, of McGill University. “But the findings show that in children small changes can make a big difference, and that is why this is meaningful.”

Source: TIME

Photo: Detail of painting by Albert Anker

Gruber, R., Cassoff, J., Frenette, S., Wiebe, S., & Carrier, J. (2012). Impact of Sleep Extension and Restriction on Children’s Emotional Lability and Impulsivity PEDIATRICS DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-0564

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TAGS: children, Conner’s Global Index, Emotional, impulsive, McGill University, Pediatrics, research, Reut Gruber, sleep

Phillip Bell

I find the fact that such a little amount of sleep can make such a big deal. I guess just that extra little bit of REM sleep can really make a difference in behavior. I have always kept on pushing my snooze button for about 20 minutes but I guess that doesn’t help because I wasn’t getting into REM sleep because I was just “sleeping” for about 5 minutes at a time. I will start doing what this article says and setting my alarm for another 30 minutes so my sleep will be more beneficial.
Ashley S.

I agree that sleeping in small amounts of time can make the world of difference in behavior. As long as people get into good REM sleep, even for 10 minutes, they will feel slightly more energized than they did before sleeping. This is why children should be encouraged to nap, they can get into good REM sleep for a short amount of time and have enough energy and proper attitude to make it through the rest of the day.
Bridget

I believe that this post is accurate based on the results discovered. It has been proven that the amount of sleep a person gets (especially children) can have a direct correlation to their behavior and this reinforces those facts. Learning a good sleeping pattern can be very beneficial to the body and help it function better as a whole. Getting a good amount of sleep can also improve memory and the overall through process which is beneficial to everyone. Sleep allows for a longer duration of time for the brain and body to relax so things are “sorted out” in people’s heads. This can be applied to all memory stages: sensory memory, short term (working) memory, and long term memory. Sleep gives the brain more of a capacity to hold this information. By containing all this information through sleep, the brain has a clearer thought process which could directly relate to good behavior in children, like in this post, or people of all ages.
Allison

I agree with this article. The amount of sleep someone gets can affect them emotionally. When a child or young adult is deprived of sleep for many days, they are more likely to be moody. Sleep deprivation can also take a toll on their motor abilities. It’s important for children and young adults to get at least eight to eight and half hours of sleep at night. Children perform better in school and other areas because sleep recharges their bodies from the crazy day they had. Sleep also aids in hormone development and helps balance them out.