@article{ref1,
title="Genetic and Environmental Influences on Infant Sleep",
journal="Pediatrics",
year="2012",
author="Fisher, Abigail and van Jaarsveld, Cornelia H. M. and Llewellyn, Clare H. and Wardle, Jane",
volume="129",
number="6",
pages="1091-1096",
abstract="BACKGROUND:Sleep duration is attracting increasing attention in relation to chronic disease risk, but few large-scale studies have investigated the determinants of sleep characteristics in early life. In this study we used data from a large, population-based twin study to examine genetic and environmental influences on sleep duration and sleep difficulties in infancy.METHODS:Participants were 1931 pairs of young twins (3862 children) from the Gemini twin birth cohort. Sleep patterns were assessed at 15 months by using a modification of the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire completed by parents. Outcomes included nighttime and daytime sleep duration and frequency of night waking.RESULTS:Twin analyses showed that nighttime sleep duration was predominantly influenced by the shared environment (66%, confidence interval [CI] 63%-70%) with a modest genetic effect (26%, CI 22%-30%). A similar pattern was observed for daytime nap duration (shared environment: 57%, CI 53%-62%; genetic effect: 37%, CI 33%-41%) and sleep disturbance (shared environment: 55%, 44%-64%) with a genetic effect of 40% (30%-51%). These estimates were similar for boys and girls.CONCLUSIONS:These results indicate an important contribution of the shared family environment as well as genes to children's sleep behavior. There is a need for research to identify specific environmental determinants that could provide targets for interventions to improve sleep quality.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0031-4005",
doi="10.1542/peds.2011-1571",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-1571"
}