- More than one-third of the 101,105 children did not meet recommended sleep standards—by either not getting enough sleep or by sleeping too much.
- Children with more reported adverse childhood experiences were more likely to have too much or too little sleep.
- Each additional traumatic event increased by 8% the likelihood that a child was sleeping 1–2 hours less or 1+ hours more than recommended; or increased by 26% the likelihood that a child was sleeping 2+ hours less than recommended.
- The study included a total of 101,105 children in the U.S., ages six to 17 years.
- The parents or guardians of 42,141 children answered survey questions about their children for the 2018-2019 National Survey of Children’s Health. 58.22% of the children were 6-12 years old and 41.78% were 13–17 years old. 50.89% were identified as male, and 49.11% were female. The children’ races and ethnicities that parents reported included: 50.3% as white, non-Hispanic; 25.71% selected Hispanic, 13.55% identified as Black, non-Hispanic; and 10.44% selected multi-racial or other, non-Hispanic.
- The parents or guardians of 58,964 children answered survey questions about their children for the 2020–2021 National Survey of Children’s Health. 51.04% of the children were identified as male and 48.96% were female. The children’s races and ethnicities that parents reported included: 50.21% chose white, non-Hispanic; 26.05% identified as Hispanic; 13.34% selected Black, non-Hispanic; and 10.4% identified as multi-racial or other, non-Hispanic.
- In this study, children were categorized into three subgroups: 1) those meeting age-appropriate, or optimal, sleep duration; 2) those who reported about 1–2 less or 1+ hours more sleep than recommended each night; and 3) those who reported two or more hours less than recommended each night. Both groups 2 and 3 were considered to have suboptimal sleep duration.
- In the NSCH surveys, the question about household financial hardship had four response options—never, rarely, somewhat often or very often—but for this analysis these were combined into two categories—somewhat often/very often or never/rarely adverse.
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