Child Sleep Concerns: Caregiver Problem Recognition and Help-Seeking

Abstract

Objective: Sleep concerns are common in children but often go untreated. Help-seeking models suggest that for children to receive health care, their caregivers must: recognize the problem, decide to seek help, and select a service. The current study aimed to fill gaps in the literature by examining caregiver problem recognition and help-seeking for behavioral sleep concerns in childhood. Methods: Data were collected via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants were 219 caregivers of children ages 7–12 who provided information about help-seeking and their child’s sleep. Results: Nearly half of the children in the sample had clinically significant sleep concerns based on caregiver responses to the CSHQ. Only 38% of the caregivers of children with clinically significant sleep difficulties accurately recognized their child’s sleep as problematic. Of caregivers who identified sleep as a problem for their child, only 42.6% had spoken with anyone about their concerns. Severity of the sleep problem and caregiver experience with mental health predicted problem identification and help-seeking. Specialty behavioral health services were underutilized with nearly 80% of caregivers indicating that they had or would seek help from their child’s pediatrician but less than 25% indicating that they had or would seek help from a therapist or psychologist. Conclusion: Results support previous findings that children’s sleep problems are under-recognized and under-treated. Future research and clinical work is needed to close the gap between the need for services and service use.

Implications for Impact Statement

Sleep difficulties in children are common. Effective treatments for sleep difficulties exist; however, a large portion of children who screen positively for sleep concerns are not recognized as having sleep concerns and do not receive treatment.