Abstract
Sleep disorders and daytime sleepiness have been investigated only minimally in children. The sleep habits of 218 children, ages 10–13 years, were surveyed by a sleep habits questionnaire (SHQ). Our results demonstrate that total night time sleep on school nights begins to fall in early adolescence, whereas it remains relatively stable on non-school nights. Daytime sleepiness is not a common problem in this age group, in contrast to a college age population. We conclude that in adolescence chronic sleep deficits begin to occur which cumulatively affect later functioning. The potential use of the SHQ for depicting pathological sleepiness is also discussed.
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Partial support for this work was provided by the Spencer Foundation, The Grant Foundation, Inc., The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Boys Town Center for Youth Development at Stanford University, and NICHD Grant HD 08339. Dr. Dement is the recipient of Career Investigator Award MH 05804.
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Anders, T.F., Carskadon, M.A., Dement, W.C. et al. Sleep habits of children and the identification of pathologically sleepy children. Child Psych Hum Dev 9, 56–63 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01463220
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01463220