Good Sleep Health in Urban Children With Asthma: A Risk and Resilience Approach

Abstract

Objectives: To identify children demonstrating "good" sleep health in a sample of urban children with persistent asthma; to compare sociocontextual, asthma clinical characteristics, and sleep behaviors in children with "good" versus "poor" sleep health; and to examine protective effects of family-based health behaviors on sleep health.

Methods: Participants were 249 Black (33%), Latino (51%) and non-Latino White (16%) children with asthma, ages 7-9 years, and their primary caregivers.

Results: 32 percent of children had "good" sleep health. Well-controlled asthma and better lung function were more likely in this group. In the context of urban risks, sleep hygiene appeared to be a protective factor associated with better sleep quality. The protective effect of asthma management functioned differently by ethnic group.

Conclusions: This study identifies protective processes that may guard against urban risks to optimize sleep health in children with asthma. Intervention programs can be tailored to consider specific supports that enhance sleep health in this high-risk group.

Keywords: asthma; children; disparities; health behavior; race/ethnicity; resilience; sleep.

© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Figures

Figure 1.

Data Collection Time Points and Number of Cases with Valid Data, by Assessment.

Figure 2.

Family Asthma Management and Sleep Efficiency by Neighborhood Risk (Median Split)—Non-Latino White Participants.

Figure 3.

Sleep Hygiene and Sleep Duration by Neighborhood Risk (Median Split).