The moderating role of preterm infants sleep on the relationship between parental sleep and family functioning: An exploratory study

Sleep is a critical factor in family well-being, particularly in the context of preterm birth, where both parents and newborns face unique challenges that can affect overall family functioning. The objective of this study was to explore whether the sleep of preterm infants moderates the relationship between parental sleep quality and family functioning in mothers and fathers. This exploratory study included 29 families (29 mothers; 28 fathers; 37 preterm infants born at mean gestational age of 28.75 weeks and assessed at a mean corrected age of 34.33 days). Parents completed self-reported measures assessing their sleep quality, their infants' sleep and family functioning. Two moderation models were tested separately for mothers and fathers, with infant sleep duration and nocturnal awakenings as moderators. For mothers, the relationship between sleep quality and family functioning was only significant when infants had shorter sleep durations. In contrast, for fathers, subjective sleep quality significantly predicted perceived family functioning when infants had an average or longer sleep duration, but not when infants had shorter sleep durations. Nocturnal awakenings were not a significant moderator of these relationships. These findings highlight differences in mothers and fathers and suggest that infant's sleep duration may play a more critical role than nocturnal awakenings in shaping the relationships between parental sleep quality and the functioning of the family. Furthermore, this study could help guide the development of targeted interventions to better support the specific needs of mothers and fathers as they adjust to returning home with a preterm newborn.