Disorders of Arousal in Children and Associated Emotional–Behavioural Problems: Results From a Non‐Clinical Longitudinal Cohort

This study aimed to assess the associations between the frequency of episodes of disorders of arousal (sleepwalking and sleep terrors) and emotional-behavioural problems in a longitudinal cohort of healthy children aged 4 and 5 years. Mother-child dyads (N = 345) were recruited during pregnancy for a longitudinal cohort study. Mothers completed validated questionnaires when children were 4 and 5 years old. Linear regressions assessed (1) the concurrent association between the frequency of disorders of arousal episodes (i.e., sleepwalking and sleep terrors) and emotional-behavioural problems in children at 4 and 5; and (2) the association between the frequency of disorders of arousal episodes at 4 and emotional-behavioural problems at 5. Models included the following covariates: child's sex, child's nighttime sleep duration, socioeconomic status and maternal depressive symptoms. More frequent episodes of disorders of arousal at age 4 were significantly associated with more concurrent internalising (B = 2.659, p = 0.001), and externalising problems (B = 2.740, p = 0.006). At age 5, the frequency of episodes was not associated with concurrent internalising and externalising problems (p > 0.05). More frequent episodes at age 4 were associated with more externalising problems at 5 (B = 2.462, p = 0.039). Although sleep terrors and sleepwalking are often benign, our results show that even in a non-clinical cohort, these sleep phenomena can be associated with emotional-behavioural problems in children as young as 4. While the mere presence of sleep terrors or sleepwalking is not alarming, screening for emotional-behavioural problems seems appropriate for children with frequent episodes.