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Children's sleep under the threat of attack by ballistic missiles
Author(s) -
LAVIE P.,
AMIT Y.,
EPSTEIN R.,
TZISCHINSKY O.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of sleep research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2869
pISSN - 0962-1105
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2869.1993.tb00058.x
Subject(s) - sleep (system call) , psychology , spanish civil war , sleep quality , gulf war , medicine , audiology , psychiatry , history , insomnia , ancient history , archaeology , computer science , operating system
SUMMARY The present paper reports on the influence of the Scud missile attacks during the Gulf War on the sleep of Israeli children. Two studies were performed. In the first, sleep habits and sleep disturbances of 61 (mean age 20 months) infants were assessed by questionnaires completed by their parents 5 months before the war and immediately after the end of the War. Comparison of pre‐ and post‐war data revealed no major changes in sleep habits or in sleep quality. In the second study, sleep of 55 children was monitored at home by actigraphs during the last month of the War. All children were aroused during missile attacks, but returned to sleep immediately, with no evidence of carry‐over effects once the ‘all clear’ sign was given. Comparison of sleep quality measures obtained during the War with those of age‐ and sex‐matched children monitored a year before the war did not reveal any significant differences apart from the immediate response to the attack.