Abstract 13285: Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Sleep Duration in Children: Utilizing 2018 to 2021 National Survey of Children’s Health
Minkyoung Song, Nathan F Dieckmann, Andrew W McHill, Carol M Musil, Laura L Hayman- Physiology (medical)
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and short sleep duration are both negatively associated with cardiovascular health. However, there is limited knowledge on the association between ACEs and sleep duration in children.
Objective: We investigated if sleep duration was associated with the number of reported ACEs. We also evaluated the trends in sleep duration among U.S. children over the 4-year period (2018-2021).
Methods: We used data from the 2018-2021 National Survey of Children’s Health. Based on the American Heart Association (AHA) Life Essential 8 scoring algorithm, we calculated a score for sleep duration (range 0 [lowest] to 100 [highest]). Participants were categorized into three subgroups: (1) meeting age-appropriate optimal sleep duration; (2) ≥1-<2 hour below or ≥ 1 hour above optimal sleep duration; and (3) ≥ 2 hours below optimal sleep duration. We employed multinomial logistic regression to assess the association of sleep duration with a cumulative count of ACEs. Secondarily, we examined trends in sleep duration from 2018 to 2021. We controlled for child’s sex, age, race/ethnicity, household poverty level, regular bedtime, physical activity, and caretaker’s level of education.
Results: Among children aged 6 to 17 years in the 2018-2019 (n=42,141) and 2020-2021 (n=58,964) surveys, the mean sleep duration score was 76.5 (95% CI 75.8 to 77.2) and 77.2 (95% CI 76.6 to 77.9), respectively. The proportion of the children meeting age-appropriate optimal sleep scores increased from 64.5% in 2018-2019 to 65.9% in 2020-2021 (p<0.001). Adjusting for covariates, for each additional ACE the likelihood of having suboptimal sleep duration increased (relative risk ratios: 1.08 [95% CI 1.04 to 1.11] for category (2); 1.26 [95% CI 1.21 to 1.31] for category (3) in 2020-2021. Results were nearly identical in 2018-2019.
Conclusions: Our findings show that over one third of U.S. children, as assessed using the AHA’s Life Essential 8 scoring criteria, do not meet optimal sleep duration standards and that number of ACEs is associated with suboptimal sleep duration. Findings highlight the importance of screening for ACEs and for sleep insufficiency in childhood with the aim of promoting optimal life course sleep patterns and cardiovascular health.