Peer-reviewed article
Association between sleep duration and child development: the Japan Environment and Children's Study.
Masumoto T, Amano H, Otani S, Kurozawa Y, Morita A ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether sleep duration in early childhood is associated with developmental outcomes using data from a large Japanese birth cohort. Children sleeping less than 10 hours at ages 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years were more likely to have developmental delays at age 3. Sleep location in the home environment was associated with sleep duration, but other environmental factors were not significantly linked to how much children slept.
Key points
- Shorter sleep duration (< 10 hours) at multiple time points was associated with increased likelihood of developmental delay at 3 years of age
- The association between short sleep and developmental delay remained significant after adjusting for individual characteristics and covariates
- Sleep location was associated with shorter sleep duration, but other environmental factors showed no significant associations
- Data came from an ongoing nationwide prospective birth cohort study in Japan
- Developmental delays were measured using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, third edition (ASQ-3)
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot establish causation or rule out bidirectional relationships between sleep duration and developmental delays. The authors note that further studies are needed to clarify underlying mechanisms.
Abstract
Few studies have examined the association between total sleep duration and general child development, as well as the environmental factors influencing sleep duration among children. To elucidate this issue, we investigated the association between sleep duration, child development, and the sleep environment. We used data from an ongoing nationwide prospective birth cohort study in Japan. Developmental delays were measured using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, third edition (ASQ-3). Sleep duration was assessed using a questionnaire completed by the children's caregivers. To assess the associations, we performed logistic regression and generalized linear mixed model analysis. Shorter sleep duration (< 10 h) at multiple time points was associated with an increased likelihood of developmental delay at 3 years of age (Sleep@6 m: Odds ratio (OR) 1.11, p < 0.001; Sleep@1y: OR 1.09, p = 0.01; Sleep@3y: OR 1.15, p < 0.001). These associations were still observed after adjusting for individual characteristics and relevant covariates (coefficient: 0.054; p < 0.001). In analyses examining the sleep environment, sleep location was associated with shorter sleep duration, whereas other environmental factors showed no significant associations (coefficient: 0.13; p = 0.049). These findings suggest that shorter sleep duration during early childhood is associated with developmental outcomes and that sleep location may be related to sleep duration. Further studies are needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms and potential bidirectional relationships involved.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Increasing sleep duration to 10 hours or more
- Population
- Children in Japan followed from birth to 3 years of age
Key finding
Sleep < 10 hours at 6 months associated with developmental delay (OR 1.11, p < 0.001)
T et al. · Europe PMC · 8 Jul 2026