Psychopathological correlates of early childhood sleep terror: associations with nutritional biomarkers, behavioral dysregulation, and sleep disturbance
Abstract
Background: Sleep terror (ST) is a common NREM parasomnia in early childhood and may be associated with broader emotional and behavioral dysregulation. However, its links with psychopathological symptoms and nutritional biomarkers remain unclear. This study compared children with ST and healthy controls (HC) in terms of psychopathology, sleep features, and biochemical markers, and explored short-term changes in a subgroup of children with ST receiving supplementation for documented micronutrient deficiencies.
Methods: Forty-eight children aged 24-60 months with ST and 48 HC were evaluated for sociodemographic, sleep, biochemical, anthropometric, and standardized scale data obtained from electronic medical records. A subset of 25 children with ST with documented micronutrient deficiencies received guideline-based supplementation and had biochemical and scale reassessments after a mean interval of 90.6 days, as part of routine clinical follow-up.
Results: Children with ST showed shorter sleep duration and higher rates of bedtime resistance at the nominal level, but these differences did not survive FDR correction (FDR p = .092 and 0.069, respectively). Only nocturnal awakenings remained significant after FDR correction (FDR p = .028). In contrast, total anxiety, behavioral dysregulation, and sleep disturbance scores were markedly higher in the ST group and remained significant after FDR correction (all FDR p < .001). Vitamin D (20.4 vs. 25.8 ng/mL; p = .015, FDR p = .026),…
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