“My child has a sleep problem”: A cross-cultural comparison of parental definitions

BackgroundSleep problems are highly prevalent in early childhood. In many cases, parents seek professional help when they suspect their child suffers from a sleep problem. The aim of this study was to explore sleep, demographic and cultural factors associated with parental definition of child sleep problem in a large-scale, cross cultural study.MethodsParents (or caregivers) of 29,287 infants and toddlers (aged 0–3 years) from 17 countries completed a questionnaire on their child’s sleep patterns, sleep setting, and demographic variables.ResultsThe results indicated that, in comparison to parents from predominantly Caucasian (PC) countries, parents from predominantly Asian (PA) countries were significantly more likely to identify a sleep problem in their children (26% vs 52% overall; 2% vs 17% “severe” sleep problem). Furthermore, whereas infant sleep variables were strong predictors of a sleep problem definition in PC countries, they were significantly less predictive in PA countries where demographic variables played a significant role.ConclusionsThese results highlight the need to further explore the role of demographic and cultural variables in determining parental perception of a sleep problem, a perception that relates to help seeking professional treatment for infant sleep problems. Our findings also emphasize the need to educate parents about infant and toddler sleep and to provide parents information and screening tools to help them identify sleep problems in a more evidence-based approach.