Study Objectives

Poor sleep impedes children’s cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial development. Pediatric sleep dysregulation is common, and children who live in communities of low socioeconomic status (SES) experience additional risk factors for short sleep duration and poor sleep quality. School-based training in mindfulness and yoga-informed practices can improve children’s behavior and well-being, but effects on objectively measured sleep are unknown.

Methods

Effects of a school-based health and mindfulness curriculum, which taught practices such as paced breathing, on sleep and stress were examined in 115 children (49 girls, ages eight to 11 at baseline). 58 children in a community of low socioeconomic status (SES) received the curriculum twice weekly for two years. 57 children in an SES-matched community engaged in their usual physical education class instead. In-home ambulatory polysomnography and perceived social stress were measured from all children at three timepoints: at baseline (i.e., prior to curriculum exposure) and at two yearly follow-ups.

Results

Children receiving the curriculum gained an average of 74 minutes of total sleep time, and 24 minutes of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, per night over the two-year study period. Children not receiving the curriculum experienced a decrease in total sleep time averaging 64 minutes per night, with no changes in REM sleep. Sleep improved within the first three months of curriculum exposure, in a dose-dependent fashion. Higher curriculum engagement (e.g., using the breathing exercises outside of class) was associated with larger gains in total and REM sleep duration. Aggregate within-group changes in social stress were not significant. However, among children receiving the curriculum, those who experienced larger gains in total and REM sleep duration also experienced larger increases in perceived social stress.

Conclusions

A school-based health and mindfulness curriculum improved children’s objectively measured sleep over two years. Social stress did not mediate these effects; instead, mindfulness training may have increased awareness of environmental stressors, while developing tools to reduce stress vulnerability.

中文翻译：

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以学校为基础的健康和正念课程可改善儿童客观测量的睡眠：一项前瞻性观察队列研究

学习目标

睡眠不佳会阻碍儿童的认知、情感和心理发展。儿童睡眠失调很常见，生活在社会经济地位 (SES) 较低社区的儿童会面临睡眠时间短和睡眠质量差的额外风险因素。学校的正念训练和瑜伽练习可以改善儿童的行为和幸福感，但对客观测量的睡眠的影响尚不清楚。

方法

在 115 名儿童（49 名女孩，基线年龄为 8 至 11 岁）中检查了学校健康和正念课程（教授节奏呼吸等实践）对睡眠和压力的影响。两年来，社会经济地位较低 (SES) 社区的 58 名儿童每周两次接受该课程。SES 匹配社区的 57 名儿童改为参加平常的体育课。在三个时间点测量所有儿童的家庭动态多导睡眠图和感知的社会压力：基线时（即课程接触之前）和每年两年的随访时。

结果

在两年的研究期间，接受该课程的儿童平均每晚获得 74 分钟的总睡眠时间和 24 分钟的快速眼动 (REM) 睡眠。未接受课程的儿童的总睡眠时间平均每晚减少 64 分钟，但快速眼动睡眠没有变化。睡眠在课程学习的前三个月内得到改善，且呈剂量依赖性。更高的课程参与度（例如，在课外进行呼吸练习）与总睡眠时间和快速眼动睡眠时间的增加相关。社会压力的群体内总体变化并不显着。然而，在接受课程的儿童中，那些总睡眠时间和快速眼动睡眠时间增加较大的儿童，感知的社会压力也增加较大。

结论

以学校为基础的健康和正念课程在两年内改善了儿童客观测量的睡眠。社会压力并没有调节这些影响；相反，正念训练可能会提高对环境压力源的认识，同时开发减少压力脆弱性的工具。