Sleep problems have been shown to have a negative impact on language development and behavior for both typically developing children and children with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders. The relation of sleep characteristics and problems to language and behavior for children with Williams syndrome (WS) is unclear. The goal of this study was to address these relations for 2-year-olds with WS. Associations of nonverbal reasoning ability, nighttime sleep duration, and excessive daytime sleepiness with language ability and behavior problems were considered. Ninety-six 2-year-olds with genetically confirmed classic-length WS deletions participated. Parents completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire, which includes a Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder (SRBD) scale with a subscale measuring excessive daytime sleepiness, to assess sleep characteristics and problems. Parents also completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences to assess behavior problems and expressive vocabulary, respectively. Children completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning to measure nonverbal reasoning and language abilities. Parents indicated that children slept an average of 10.36 h per night (SD = 1.09, range 7.3–13.3), not differing significantly from the mean reported by Bell and Zimmerman (2010) for typically developing toddlers (p = .787). Sixteen percent of participants screened positive for SRBD and 30% for excessive daytime sleepiness. Children who screened positive for SRBD had significantly more behavior problems on all CBCL scales than children who screened negative. Children with excessive daytime sleepiness had significantly more attention/hyperactivity, stress, and externalizing problems than those who did not have daytime sleepiness. Individual differences in parent-reported nighttime sleep duration and directly measured nonverbal reasoning abilities accounted for unique variance in expressive language, receptive language, and internalizing problems. Individual differences in parent-reported daytime sleepiness accounted for unique variance in externalizing problems. The relations of nighttime sleep duration, positive screens for SRBD, and excessive daytime sleepiness to language and behavior in toddlers with WS parallel prior findings for typically developing toddlers. These results highlight the importance of screening young children with WS for sleep problems. Studies investigating the efficacy of behavioral strategies for improving sleep in children with WS are warranted.

中文翻译：

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威廉姆斯综合征 2 岁儿童的睡眠特征和问题：与语言和行为的关系

睡眠问题已被证明对正常发育的儿童和患有一系列神经发育障碍的儿童的语言发育和行为都有负面影响。威廉姆斯综合征 (WS) 儿童的睡眠特征和问题与语言和行为的关系尚不清楚。本研究的目的是解决患有 WS 的 2 岁儿童的这些关系。考虑了非语言推理能力、夜间睡眠持续时间和白天过度嗜睡与语言能力和行为问题之间的关联。96 名 2 岁的基因证实经典长度 WS 缺失参与。家长完成了儿科睡眠问卷，其中包括睡眠相关呼吸障碍 (SRBD) 量表，以及测量白天过度嗜睡的子量表，评估睡眠特征和问题。家长还完成了儿童行为检查表 (CBCL) 和麦克阿瑟-贝茨交流发展量表：单词和句子，以分别评估行为问题和表达词汇。孩子们完成了马伦早期学习量表来衡量非语言推理和语言能力。父母表示，儿童每晚平均睡 10.36 小时（SD = 1.09，范围 7.3-13.3），与 Bell 和 Zimmerman (2010) 报告的典型发育幼儿的平均值没有显着差异 (p = .787)。16% 的参与者筛查出 SRBD 阳性，30% 筛查出白天过度嗜睡。SRBD 筛查阳性的儿童在所有 CBCL 量表上的行为问题明显多于筛查阴性的儿童。与没有白天嗜睡的儿童相比，白天过度嗜睡的儿童注意力/多动、压力和外化问题明显更多。父母报告的夜间睡眠持续时间和直接测量的非语言推理能力的个体差异导致了表达语言、接受语言和内化问题的独特差异。父母报告的白天嗜睡的个体差异解释了外化问题的独特差异。夜间睡眠持续时间、SRBD 阳性筛查以及白天过度嗜睡与幼儿的语言和行为之间的关系与 WS 平行先前发现的典型发育幼儿。这些结果强调了筛查患有 WS 的幼儿睡眠问题的重要性。