Last Updated: 2009-04-07 11:26:21 -0400 (Reuters Health)

A study in the April issue of Pediatrics suggests an association between sleep problems in childhood and neuropsychological functioning in adolescence.

Dr. Alice M. Gregory, of the University of London, UK, and colleagues used longitudinal prospective data on 1037 children to examine the association between parent-rated sleep problems during childhood (at ages 5, 7 and 9) and neuropsychological functioning assessed when the children were 13 years old.

After adjustment for gender and socioeconomic status, persistent sleep problems during childhood predicted poor neuropsychological functioning on the copy accuracy score of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test and two measures of performance on the Halstead Trail Making Test (time to completion of an effortful processing task, and ability to inhibit overlearned behavior).

"These results were substantively replicated when sleep was assessed at the 5- and 9-year (but not 7-year) assessments separately," the investigators report.

Their findings suggest that sleep problems should be routinely assessed in children, they add. "Once identified, sleep problems should be addressed—as indicated by studies highlighting improved grades after treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and improved neurobehavioral functioning after sleep extension."

Pediatrics 2009;123:1171-1176.

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