Systematic review of the relationship between sleep and reading in children: A meta‐analysis and narrative synthesis

Abstract

While it is well established that poor sleep is associated with worse cognitive and academic performance in primary school‐aged children, less is known about the relationship between sleep and specific abilities like reading. The present study is the first comprehensive review of the relationship between sleep and reading in children (5–12 years), which included 48 studies comprising 55,061 participants (3 case report, 30 cross‐sectional, 6 case–control and 9 longitudinal studies). Meta‐analyses were conducted as appropriate and showed that poorer reading is associated with greater general sleep disturbances ( r  = −.26), insomnia symptoms ( r  = −.20), sleep‐disordered breathing symptoms ( r  = −.31), daytime sleepiness ( r  = −.12) and shorter sleep duration ( r  = .22). These findings appear to be robust across different types of reading measures and generally support an association between behavioural sleep outcomes and reading; however, there was substantial heterogeneity, with differences across studies likely driving variability, so these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Ultimately, further research is required to identify specificity in how sleep and reading are related to one another, and whether sleep interventions may be a useful support for children at risk of poor reading.

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