Janelle Boram Lee

Background: Children of mothers exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may be at increased risk of sleep disruptions, such as night waking, due to potential suboptimal caregiving or living conditions. Mothers’ ACEs are also associated with maternal depressive symptoms, which in turn are associated with children’s screen time and sleep disruptions, revealing relevant, but unexplored, mediation pathways. This Canadian study investigated if mothers’ ACEs were associated with their 5-year-old children’s sleep disruptions (1) directly and (2) indirectly through independent or serial mediation via maternal depressive symptoms and/or children’s screen time. Methods: Data (n = 622; maternal mean age 32.3 years, 88.4% white) came from the longitudinal APrON Study. ACEs were measured 1 year postpartum. Mother’s depressive symptoms were measured across prenatal and postnatal timepoints. Children’s evening screen time (i.e., number of days in a week children engaged in one hour of screen time before bedtime) and sleep disruptions (number of days in a week their child wakes up multiple times) were measured at 5 years postpartum using adapted scales (52.9% male). PROCESS was used to assess for mediation. Results: Mothers’ ACEs had an indirect effect on their children’s sleep disruptions through mothers’ mean depressive symptoms (effect = 0.018, 95% CI [0.006, 0.034]), but not through children’s screen time. No other effects (i.e., direct, total) were observed. Conclusions: Although replication studies are warranted, this novel study reveals that the effects of maternal ACEs on children’s sleep disruptions may operate indirectly with effects potentiated through maternal depressive symptoms, thus serving as a target for intervention.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a widespread impact on families with dependent children. To better understand the impact of the pandemic on families’ health and relationships, we examined the association between mothers’ and children’s mental distress and family strain. Methods: Three waves of the COVID-19 Impact Survey were analyzed, collected from a subsample of mother–child pairs (n = 157) from the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) longitudinal cohort in Alberta, Canada. Latent class analyses were performed to determine patterns and group memberships in mothers’ and children’s mental distress and family strain. Multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to test associations between mothers’ and children’s mental distress and family strain trajectory classes. Results: Mothers with medium/high levels of mental distress were at increased odds of experiencing high family strain compared to those with low levels of distress (medium aOR = 3.90 [95% CI: 1.08–14.03]; high aOR = 4.57 [95% CI: 1.03–20.25]). The association between children’s mental distress and family strain was not significant (aOR = 1.75 [95% CI: 0.56–5.20]). Conclusion: Mothers’ mental distress, but not children’s, was associated with family strain during the pandemic. More distressed individuals experienced greater family strain over time, suggesting that this association may become a chronic problem.