Published recently in JAMA Network Open, the research monitored more than 8,800 9- and 10-year olds who didn’t have thoughts or behaviors of suicide at the start of the study. After 2 years of study children with higher or frequent levels of sleep disturbances were more prone to have suicidal thoughts or suicidal behavior. Especially high risk was conferred by frequent nightmares.
Sleep problems offer a golden opportunity for parents and physicians to intervene, and understanding the connections between poor sleep and suicide is important, said Stanford Medicine suicidologist and founding director and director of the Stanford Suicide Prevention Research Laboratory, Rebecca Bernert, Ph. D., senior author of the study.
Sleep changes being a perfect storm
The sexes also take different paths with respect to sleep patterns as adolescence unfolds. A child’s brain and physical development accelerates, putting the body into an aggressive growth spurt, hence kids’ need to sleep nine or more hours per night.
But puberty, with their body clock moving to ‘night owl’ patterns that get teens sleeping and waking later, is happening at the same time. Adolescents also face new responsibilities that can interfere with sleep: Busier social life; more homework; maybe you have early morning sports practices or classes. Bernert said it’s a ‘perfect storm’.
Newer, better screening tools for paediatricians
Bernert hopes that her team’s findings can provide the foundation for more research on the link between sleep and suicide risk, and also help pediatricians learn to look for early signs of mental health problems in their young patients.
She noted, simple tools already exist for doctors and parents to use to check for sleep problems in kids including a brief questionnaire using the acronym BEARS (for bedtime, excessive daytime sleepiness, awakening during the night, regularity and duration of sleep, and snoring) to help people remember and prioritise which pieces of sleep disturbance are most important and in the best interest of overall sleep health.
“These probably are the only risk factors for mental health problems that are visible,” she said, and “for lack of stigma, are useful instead of other known risk factors for suicide.”
“The parents or parents and loved ones or the paediatrician sees sleep.” Even if they’re not comfortable talking about their moods or depression, a developing teen might be willing to talk about their sleep. Sleep becomes a potential treatment gateway and overall well being—plus a potential prevention?’
Reference: Digitale E. Childhood sleep disturbance linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors two years later.
