Marriage problems pave way for complications in kids, or at least the following piece of information suggests so. According to a novel investigation by the Oregon State University, marital instability builds sleep problems in 18 month kids. Persistence of this complication in falling asleep and staying asleep can possibly lead to problems in school, inattention and behavioral issues.
In order to link marital issues with infant sleep, authors interviewed more than 350 families with adopted infants, to eliminate the possibility that these shared genes influence the relationship between marital instability and child sleep problems. Majority of the couples were middle class, white and fairly educated and all had adopted their child within the first three months of birth. The association between marital instability and children’s subsequent sleep problems seems to rise earlier in development than has been demonstrated previously.
On completion of the study, it was suggested that marital instability when children were nine months old can foretell increases in sleep problems by the time they are 18 months old. The study findings were asserted after considering factors such as birth order, parents’ anxiety and difficult infant temperament. Anne Mannering, an Oregon State University faculty member in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and colleagues mention that children’s sleep problems do not predict marital instability.
The study is published in the journal Child Development.