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Assisted conception, maternal personality and parenting: Associations with toddler sleep behaviour
Author(s) -
Johnson Nikki,
McMahon Catherine,
Gibson Frances
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.12654
Subject(s) - bedtime , temperament , medicine , toddler , sleep (system call) , developmental psychology , cognition , hardiness (plants) , personality , clinical psychology , psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , computer science , horticulture , cultivar , biology , operating system
Aim To explore the role of maternal personality (hardiness), sleep‐related cognitions and bedtime involvement in child sleep behaviour during the second post‐natal year in a sample of spontaneous and assisted conception first‐time mothers. Method Mothers ( n = 134 (spontaneous ( n = 81); assisted ( n = 53) conception)) reported on a resilience measure (hardiness) during pregnancy and child sleep at 7 and 19 months post‐partum. At 19 months post‐partum, mothers also reported on their cognitions and involvement around their child's bedtime, and half the sample used Actigraph monitors (Acitiwatch‐16, Mini Mitter Co. Inc, Bend, OR, USA) to validate maternal report of child sleep. Results No significant differences were found between spontaneous and assisted conception mothers on any of the study variables; therefore, assisted and spontaneous samples were combined. Structural equation modelling confirmed that lower pre‐birth maternal hardiness was associated with more problematic sleep‐related cognitions (β = 0.23, P < 0.01) and involvement at bedtime (β = 0.29, P < 0.01) and poorer child sleep outcomes (β = −0.33, P < 0.001) during toddlerhood, even after considering concurrent maternal mood and child temperament. Conclusions Pre‐birth maternal hardiness rather than mode of conception contributes to parenting cognitions and behaviour around child sleep and, ultimately, toddlers' sleep outcomes. Findings suggest that targeting negative maternal perceptions of control and efficacy through clinical interventions could benefit toddlers' sleep.