You are here

Cross Cultural Differences in Toddler and Infant Sleep

[popup title="Sample, Objective, Variables Measured, Study Design" format= "Default hover" text='

Sample

N: 29,287
Subject Ages: Birth to 36 months
Location:
- Predominantly Asian (P-A) countries and regions: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
- Predominantly Caucasian (P-C) countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States
SES: Variable
Eligibility: Parents who completed the questionnaire
Additional:
- Urban samples
- 48.1% boys
- 89.7% mothers
- 75.7% parents were between 25 and 35 years old
- 83.7% parents had some college education
- 52.1% parents were employed full-time
- There were significant differences between P-A and P-C for birth order, sex, age of respondent, education of respondent and employment status.

Objectives

To characterize sleep patterns, sleep behaviors and sleep problems in a large sample of children ages birth to 36 months in multiple P-A and P-C countries/regions.
To assess sleeping arrangements and parental perceptions of sleep problems in these young children.

Variables Measured, Instruments Used

Daytime and nighttime sleep patterns, sleep-related behaviors, sleeping arrangements (bed-sharing and room-sharing) and bedtime, child’s behavior during the last two weeks - Brief Infant Sleep Survey questionnaire expanded, Internet-based

Design—Cohort, cross-cultural

Findings

Statistically significant cross-cultural differences were found in sleep patterns and problems.
Children in the predominantly Asian (P-A) countries were reported by their parents to sleep less, have later bedtimes, room-share, and be perceived as having more sleep problems than children in predominantly Caucasian (P-C) countries
Parentally deﬁned sleep problems are clearly a universal issue. Parents in all 17 countries/regions reported signiﬁcant sleep issues. Surprisingly, though, some of the largest country/region-based differences were how sleep was perceived as a problem by parents, ranging from a low of 10.1% in Vietnam to 75.9% in China.
Minimal differences were found for daytime sleep (naps), with all children in this study following the same maturational pattern in napping behaviors. These results indicate a strong biological contribution to daytime sleep, rather than what appears to be a stronger culturally based influence to nighttime sleep.

Limitations

Cohort has an above-average level of education and is primarily urban.
This Internet survey did not prevent a person from participating more than once and could not ensure whether the participant had a child.
Parents with concerns about a child’s sleep may have been more likely to participate.
Participants in Vietnam and Thailand completed the survey by paper and so may have responded differently or have had different characteristics than those who completed the survey on the Internet.
Parental reports of infant behavior are necessarily limited as they may be inaccurate. Terms such as “sleep problem” may differ across cultures.
This study is broad in its geographic scope and does not provide information about the vast differences that might exist among subcultures and different ethnicities in a given country or region.

Main menu