| Summary: | This study used a multiple baseline across participants design to examine the relationship
between sleep and anxiety in school-aged children, the effectiveness of a behavioural family
intervention, and the co-existence of depression with children presenting with sleep
disturbances and anxiety symptoms. The families of five school-aged children, three females
and two males that met the selection criteria as having problematic sleep and anxiety
participated in the study. Interventions incorporating a combination of strategies from sleep
and anxiety research were individually designed for each child.
The hypotheses of the study were measured by the use of parent and child sleep
diaries, the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for
Children (STAIC), and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and were administered at
baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up. This study provides preliminary results that
indicate a relationship between sleep and anxiety may occur. The use of a behavioural family
intervention in the treatment of these problems showed mixed results, appearing most
successful in reducing participants' self-ratings of anxieties followed by reductions in parental
presence and sleep onset latency. The co-occurrence of depression was indicated and
symptoms decreased for those children whose sleep behaviours and anxiety problems
improved. The limitations of this study and implications for future research and professional
practice are discussed.
|
|---|
