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. 2024 Aug 1;14(1):17773.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-68672-5.

Infants' early recovery from sleep disturbance is associated with a lower risk of developmental delay in the Japan Environment and Children's Study

Kimiyo Kikuchi #  1   2   3 , Takehiro Michikawa #  4 , Seiichi Morokuma  5   6 , Norio Hamada  7   8 , Subaru Ikeda  1 , Yukiyo Shimada  7   8 , Kiyoko Kato  7   8 , Masayuki Ochiai  7   9 , Mayumi Tsuji  10   11 , Masayuki Shimono  10   12 , Kiyoshi Yoshino  10   13 , Reiko Suga  10 , Toshihiro Kawamoto  10 , Shouichi Ohga  7   9 ; Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Infants' early recovery from sleep disturbance is associated with a lower risk of developmental delay in the Japan Environment and Children's Study

Kimiyo Kikuchi et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

To examine whether patterns, such as the timings of onset or recovery from sleep disturbance, are associated with later developmental problems, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Mothers participating in the Japan Environment and Children's Study with a child aged 3 years were included in the analyses. Children were assessed for short sleep and frequent awakenings at 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year of age. Developmental problems were evaluated at 3 years of age based on ASD diagnosis and developmental delay, using the Japanese translation of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) 3rd edition. Sleep disturbance patterns were classified by onset age, and developmental problem risks were examined based on onset/recovery ages. Among 63,418 mother-infant dyads, 0.4% of infants were later diagnosed with ASD, and 14.4% had abnormal scores on any ASQ domains. The later the onset of short sleep, the lower the risk of abnormal ASQ scores (RR of short sleep onset at 1 year: 1.41; 6 months: 1.52; 1 month: 1.57). The earlier the infants recovered from short sleep persistence, the lower the risk of developmental delay (RR of remittance of sleep problems identified at 1 month by 6 months: 1.07; 1 year: 1.31; not before 1 year: 1.57). Although not all patterns were significant, later short sleep onset and earlier recovery were associated with lower ASD risk. These findings may have significant implications for future interventions in infant development.

Keywords: ASD; ASQ; Pediatrics; Sleep disturbance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the selection process of study participants.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk ratios of developmental problems (assessed with ASD diagnosis/total score of ASQ) at 3 years of age in relation to later onset of/early recovery from persistent short sleep (caregiver-reported) in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. The upper two tables and figures show the risk ratios of developmental problems (ASD and total score of ASQ) in relation to the later onset of short sleep. The two tables and figures at the bottom show the risk ratios in relation to early recovery from a short sleep. The lighter green color in the graph indicates patterns of later onset of short sleep and the lighter orange color indicates patterns of early recovery from short sleep. ASD autism spectrum disorder, ASQ Ages and Stages Questionnaire, CI confidence interval, RR risk ratio, SS short sleep. The dashes in the short-sleep patterns indicate healthy sleep.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Risk ratios of developmental problems (assessed with the five domains of ASQ) at 3 years of age in relation to later onset of/ early recovery from persistent short sleep (caregiver-reported) in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. The data on the left show the risk ratios of developmental problems assessed with the five domains of ASQ in relation to the later onset of short sleep. The tables and figures on the right side show the risk ratios in relation to early recovery from a short sleep. The lighter green color in the graph indicates patterns of later onset of short sleep, and the lighter orange color indicates patterns of early recovery from short sleep. CI confidence interval, RR risk ratio, SS short sleep. The dashes in the short-sleep patterns indicate healthy sleep.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Two scenarios of sleep disturbances and age patterns. The figure shows the patterns of sleep disturbances and ages (1 month, 6 months, and 1 year of age) based on the later onset of sleep disturbances (scenario 1) and the early recovery from the sleep disturbances (scenario 2). The red boxes indicate healthy sleep status and the blue boxes indicate sleep disturbance (short sleep or night-time awakening). In the Poisson regression analysis, the pattern of healthy sleep at all ages from 1 month to 1 year was set as a reference to examine the risk ratios for scenarios 1 and 2.
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