Irregular Bedtime Linked To Children Behavior Problems, Study Says

Children who are having irregular bedtimes will likely have behavioral problems, according to a study conducted by a group of researchers from University College London.

The study, which was led by UCL Epidemiology and Public Health professor Yvonne Kelly that was published in the journal Pediatrics, concluded that irregular bedtimes are responsible for disrupting body rhythm. In turn, sleep deprivation could lead to brain maturation problems and undermining the proper regulation of certain behavior.

"Not having fixed bedtimes, accompanied by a constant sense of flux, induces a state of body and mind akin to jet lag and these matters for healthy development and daily functioning," Kelly said. "We know that early child development has profound influences on health and wellbeing across the life course. It follows that disruptions to sleep, especially if they occur at key times in development, could have important lifelong impacts on health."

Kelly and her co-researchers John Kelly and Amanda Sacker analyzed the bedtime dates of 10,230 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. They incorporated the data provided by the mothers of the children, who were all three, five, or seven years of age.

The results of the study found a link between children's bedtime and their behavior, with irregular sleep affecting their brain development.

Children with irregular bedtime or those who are going to bed after 9 p.m. showed severe behaviors, including hyperactivity, behavioral problems, and emotional difficulties, while children who had or switched to regular bedtime showed behavioral improvements.

"What we've shown is that these effects build up incrementally over childhood, so that children who always had irregular bedtimes were worse off than those children who did have a regular bedtime at one or two of the ages when they were surveyed," Kelly said. "But our findings suggest the effects are reversible. For example, children who change from not having to having regular bedtimes show improvements in their behavior."