Study reveals persistent sleep difficulties in infancy linked to heightened risk of childhood anxieties

Risk of developing childhood anxieties and emotional disorders are linked with persistent sleep difficulties during the first 12 months of life, indicates recent research. The research was published online in the journal, Archives of Disease in Childhood. Based on their findings, poor infant sleepers should be monitored for mental health issues in later childhood, advise the researchers. Disturbed sleep patterns were associated with heightened risks of childhood anxiety and emotional issues, the analysis show. The emotional disorder includes any of the following: separation anxiety; social phobia; agoraphobia; obsessive-compulsive disorder; specific phobias; panic disorder; post-traumatic stress; generalised anxiety; depression; or bipolar disorder. Infants whose sleep problems were persistent and severe were also more than twice as likely to have separation anxiety, to fear getting hurt (physically), and to be more anxious generally by the age of 10