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After studying the sleep patterns of children aged 5 to 9, researchers found that when mothers reported less flexibility in their work schedules, their children slept less. When they gained flexibility in their work schedules, their children slept more.
But this relationship decreased when researchers determined whether children had regular bedtime routines, suggesting that regular bedtime may be the answer to compensating for the damage caused by tight work schedules.
Orfeu Buxton, PhD, professor of biology and behavior at Penn State, says the findings provide clues to how parents' work schedules can affect their children's sleep.
"We've already seen this link between rigid work schedules and children's sleep patterns, but we did not know why this was happening," Buxton said in a statement. "Our results suggest that there may be talk of children who do not follow a regular bedtime routine if their mothers do inflexible work. We know that positive routines are especially important for positive child growth. Therefore, sleep can suffer if he is not there. "
The researchers said the results – recently published in the Journal of Childhood and Family Studies– also suggest that it may be useful for employers to create policies that provide employees with greater flexibility, both for the health of employees and their children.
Soomi Lee, PhD, currently adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, who led the paper while he was a postdoctoral fellow at Penn State, said employers could start by thinking about how to change the structural and cultural practices that may hinder flexibility.
"If workplaces could improve employees' flexibility and allow them to control when and where they work, it could be helpful," says Lee. "They could offer a variety of flexible work options to employees, especially working mothers, such as flexible working hours, teleworking or sharing work with another employee."
According to Buxton, the study provides parents with rigid work schedules a way to help their children sleep more.
"If parents can be with their children regularly and help them with a regular bedtime routine, it's very beneficial for their long-term growth and development," says Buxton. "Children can be a pleasure to watch going to bed. Maybe you could start by taking a bath, then brushing your teeth and reading books to create this kind of calm and conviviality with your family. "
The researchers used data from 1,040 mothers and their children for this study. At the age of 5 and 9, mothers were asked about the flexibility of their work. For example, if their work schedule was flexible enough to meet the needs of the family.
At each hour, mothers were also asked if their child was sleeping normally, if their child had difficulty falling asleep, and how often their child was sleeping at night.
Buxton said it was important to measure mothers' flexibility in their schedules because some employers say their positions are flexible, but that they only represent win-win solutions. employer.
"Many adults, especially single mothers working with low socio-economic status, are punching," says Buxton. "In many of these positions, people can be called at the last minute or sent home soon after planning to stay at work all day. Or, if they hit with 5 minutes late, they could be written. These rigid environments are very flexible from the point of view of the employer, but have no use for the employee. "
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that, in general, less flexibility in the workplace was associated with shorter sleep time. The increase in workplace flexibility between age 5 and age 9 was associated with children staying longer in bed and 44% less likely to have difficulty s & # 39; asleep.
Lee says that in addition to having consequences for workplace practices, the findings also suggest ways that health care workers can help families.
"Previous research has shown that early bedtime practices can have a long-term influence on individual sleep," says Lee. "Clinicians and practitioners might consider talking to working moms about how to improve their bedtime routine. Future research could also continue to identify other modifiable factors linking parental work and child's sleep, so that we can intervene to promote sleep health from childhood and reduce future disparities in childbearing. of sleep health ".
Buxton and his colleagues are continuing this research until the next study, on the transition to early adulthood, on how sleep health trajectories can contribute to the onset and persistence of changeable disparities in sleep and well-being.
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