Sleep as a mediator between childhood trauma and psychopathology in early adolescence: Evidence from the ABCD study.

Associations between objective sleep duration, sleep duration variability, and sleep onset with emotion regulation and internalizing symptoms in adolescents: findings from the ABCD® study.

Investigation of cross-sectional associations between objective sleep features (sleep duration, duration variability, and onset time) and mental health outcomes in 1371 U.S. adolescents found objective sleep features were differentially associated with mental health outcomes.

Sleep patterns during infancy and neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes in early childhood: A prospective cohort study

Abstract Background Infant sleep is multidimensional, with sleep habits and sleep problems often co‐occurring and changing rapidly during early life. Evidence links infant sleep with later neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes, yet few studies have examined overall sleep patterns, their changes over time, and outcomes across multiple preschool domains. We examined associations of sleep patterns at 6 and 12 months and their transitions with preschool neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes. Methods This prospective cohort study included 1707 children from the Shanghai Birth Cohort. Infant sleep at 6 and 12 months was assessed using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. Sleep patterns were identified at each time point using latent class analysis based on multiple sleep indicators, and children with sleep data at both ages were classified into transition groups. At age 4, outcomes were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Social Responsiveness Scale‐Short Form (SRS‐SF), and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function‐Preschool Version (BRIEF‐P). Multivariable linear regression estimated associations. Results At 6 and 12 months, 66.02% and 69.18% of infants were classified as having a good sleep pattern. Among children with sleep data at both time points, 51.57% had consistently good sleep, 16.68% improved, 14.44% deteriorated, and 17.31% had consistently poor sleep. Poor sleep at 6 months was associated with higher SDQ Total Difficulties scores. Poor sleep at 12 months was associated with higher SDQ Total Difficulties, SRS‐SF Total, and BRIEF‐P Global Executive Composite scores. Consistently poor sleep from 6 to 12 months was associated with less favorable outcomes than consistently good sleep. Conclusion Poorer infant sleep patterns, especially at 12 months and when persistent from 6 to 12 months, were associated with less favorable preschool neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes. These findings support infant sleep patterns as an early‐life factor relevant to developmental research and monitoring.

Associations between childhood family stress and systemic inflammation in adulthood: Contributions of pubertal timing and waist circumference in adolescence.

OBJECTIVE Evidence from retrospective studies suggests that childhood experiences relate to levels of systemic inflammation across the lifespan, particularly for women. This prospective study examined associations between childhood family stress and inflammation in early adulthood among women, considering pubertal timing and adolescent adiposity as potential biobehavioral mediators as well as differences by race. METHOD The sample included 1,362 participants of the Pittsburgh Girls Study followed from middle childhood to adulthood. Childhood family stress was estimated as a second-order latent variable from measures of harsh punishment, caregiver-partner conflict, and caregiver depression assessed annually between ages 5 and 9. Inflammation was measured as plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) (Mage = 23.57 years). Household receipt of public assistance between ages 5 and 9 was included as a binary covariate. Age at menarche and waist circumference at age 12 served as mediators in structural equation models. RESULTS Greater childhood family stress was associated with higher levels of IL-6 in early adulthood, independently of household public assistance (β = .10, p = .011). Childhood family stress was also indirectly related to adult IL-6 via pubertal timing (β = .01, confidence interval [0.000, 0.004]) and waist circumference (β = .05, confidence interval [0.002, 0.021]). When modeling both mediators together, only waist circumference contributed independent variance to the association between childhood family stress and adult IL-6, and results varied by race. CONCLUSIONS Stress within the childhood family environment may relate to long-term systemic inflammation, both directly and indirectly through pubertal timing and adolescent adiposity, independently of household public assistance. The identification of life course cascades underlying cardiometabolic risk could inform early health promotion efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal relations between sleep quality, psychological distress, and cognitive function among rural older adults: a cross-lagged network analysis

Abstract Background Sleep disorder, cognitive impairment, and psychological distress usually co-occur in older adults, yet their dynamic relationships over time remain poorly understood, particularly in rural aging populations. Methods This study employed cross-lagged panel network (CLPN) analysis to examine temporal relationships among sleep quality, cognitive function, and psychological distress in 2,196 rural Chinese older adults across 4 years. We analyzed autoregressive and cross-lagged effects, centrality measures, and sex differences in network structures over two time intervals. Results CLPN analysis revealed temporal associations among sleep quality, psychological distress, and cognitive function domains. Subjective sleep quality emerged as the most influential predictor node across both time periods. Cognitive components – particularly orientation, attention and calculation, and language – were identified as the most vulnerable target nodes. Sex-stratified analyses revealed moderate structural similarity between male and female networks across time periods. Conclusions This study provides new evidence for understanding the temporal relationships among sleep quality, psychological distress, and cognitive function in rural older adults. These findings may suggest that subjective sleep quality represents a central and modifiable target within the aging-related symptom network, with potential implications for early intervention across cognitive and psychological domains.

Associations between childhood trauma and heart rate variability: Serial mediation by alexithymia and anxiety symptoms.

PURPOSE Childhood trauma has been associated with long-term alterations in psychological functioning and autonomic regulation. However, the psychological processes linking early adverse experiences with individual differences in autonomic function remain insufficiently understood. The present study examined the associations between childhood trauma and heart rate variability (HRV), with particular attention to the potential mediating roles of alexithymia and anxiety symptoms. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS A total of 152 university students (mean age = 22.19 years, SD = 1.63) participated in this cross-sectional study. Childhood trauma was assessed using the Revised Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire, alexithymia was measured using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and anxiety symptoms were evaluated using the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Heart rate variability was indexed by the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) derived from electrocardiogram recordings. Serial mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro (Model 6) with bootstrap resampling to examine the indirect associations among the study variables. RESULTS Childhood trauma was positively associated with alexithymia and anxiety symptoms and negatively associated with HRV. Alexithymia and anxiety symptoms were both negatively correlated with HRV and positively correlated with each other. Serial mediation analysis indicated that alexithymia and anxiety symptoms were statistically associated with the relationship between childhood trauma and HRV through both independent and sequential indirect pathways. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that higher levels of childhood trauma are associated with lower heart rate variability primarily in conjunction with elevated alexithymia and anxiety symptoms. Within a cross-sectional associational framework, alexithymia and anxiety may represent psychological characteristics linked to both early adverse experiences and variations in autonomic regulation. These results highlight the interconnected nature of emotional awareness, affective distress, and physiological regulation, and underscore the importance of considering emotional processing traits when examining psychophysiological correlates of childhood trauma.

From preconception to postpartum: bidirectional associations between sleep and depression and the role of infant sleep in a population-based cohort