We investigated the association between retrospectively reported sleep disturbances during childhood and adolescence and current symptoms of depression and anxiety in older adults. Participants included 116 older adults (M age = 68 years [SD = 6.4 years]) who completed a battery of sleep and psychological assessments. We tested two multivariate regression models using age, sex, race, physical illness burden, insomnia status, and pediatric sleep disturbances as correlates of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Pediatric sleep disturbances were significantly associated with greater depressive symptomatology (β = 0.247, p = .010), independent of current insomnia status. Medium effect sizes were reported. Our results suggest that pediatric sleep disturbances may be a biobehavioral signal for the development of poor emotional health across the lifespan. Future research should identify critical windows of development when sleep disturbances might be most impactful on emotional health trajectories.

我们调查了回顾性报告的儿童和青春期睡眠障碍与老年人当前抑郁和焦虑症状之间的关联。参与者包括完成一系列睡眠和心理评估的116 名老年人（M年龄 = 68 岁 [ SD = 6.4 岁]）。我们使用年龄、性别、种族、身体疾病负担、失眠状态和儿科睡眠障碍作为抑郁症状和焦虑症状的相关性来测试两个多元回归模型。儿科睡眠障碍与更大的抑郁症状显着相关（β = 0.247，p= .010)，与当前的失眠状态无关。报告了中等效应量。我们的研究结果表明，儿科睡眠障碍可能是整个生命周期中情绪健康不良发展的生物行为信号。当睡眠障碍可能对情绪健康轨迹产生最大影响时，未来的研究应该确定关键的发展窗口。