# Are Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences Associated with Their Preschool Children’s Sleep Disruptions? Longitudinal Mediation Through Mothers’ Depressive Symptoms and Children’s Screen Time

## TL;DR

Maternal childhood trauma may affect preschool children's sleep through the mother's depression, not directly or via screen time.

## Contribution

This study reveals a novel indirect pathway linking maternal ACEs to children's sleep disruptions via maternal depressive symptoms.

## Key findings

- Maternal ACEs indirectly affect children's sleep disruptions through maternal depressive symptoms.
- No direct or total effect of maternal ACEs on children's sleep disruptions was found.
- Children's screen time did not mediate the relationship between maternal ACEs and sleep disruptions.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?
Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) did not exert direct effects on children’s sleep disruptions.Maternal depressive symptoms may mediate the association between maternal ACEs and children’s sleep disruptions.

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) did not exert direct effects on children’s sleep disruptions.

Maternal depressive symptoms may mediate the association between maternal ACEs and children’s sleep disruptions.

What is the implication of the main finding?
Screening for maternal depressive symptoms when children present with sleep disruptions may improve sleep quality, especially when there is an awareness of maternal exposure to ACEs.If depressive symptoms arise from maternal ACEs, interventions targeting depression might be enhanced by focusing on mothers’ early childhood experiences.

Screening for maternal depressive symptoms when children present with sleep disruptions may improve sleep quality, especially when there is an awareness of maternal exposure to ACEs.

If depressive symptoms arise from maternal ACEs, interventions targeting depression might be enhanced by focusing on mothers’ early childhood experiences.

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.