Effects of short daytime nap on cognitive performance and daytime behaviours in primary school children
Published in 15th World Sleep Congress 2019 - Vancouver, Canada, 2019
Jiaxin Wei, Ngan Yin Chan, Mandy Wai Man Yu, Forrest Tin Wai Cheung, Xiaobo Yang, Jihui Zhang, Albert Martin Li, Yun-Kwok Wing, Shirley Xin Li
Abstract
Introduction Adequate sleep is essential for cognitive abilities, such as attention and memory, and also important for one’s physical and psychological health. Children with insufficient sleep were found to have impaired cognitive abilities and more behavioral problems. To investigate whether napping could be a possible countermeasure for insufficient sleep in children, we conducted a naturalistic experimental study to examine the effects of short daytime nap on cognitive performance and daytime behaviours in primary school children.
Materials and Methods Children in a local primary school were randomly assigned on a class basis to either nap group (20 minutes of nap opportunity daily during school days) or no-nap group. Two hundred and sixty-six children (age range: 7-12 years, girls: 49.6%, 65 from nap group vs. 67 from wake group) completed the assessments on their sleep, cognitive performance and daytime behaviors at baseline and two weeks after the intervention. Children were also administered cognitive tasks to assess their psychomotor vigilance, inhibitory control and working memory before and after nap-time period at baseline and two weeks after the intervention.
Results At baseline children with parent-reported insufficient sleep showed significantly poorer performance on the inhibitory control task and had more daytime sleepiness and behavioral problems including ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) symptoms, and emotional problems (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in parent-reported nocturnal sleep latency, weekday nighttime sleep duration and weekend nighttime sleep duration between baseline and two weeks after intervention for the children in the nap group. Two weeks after the intervention, children in the nap group performed significantly better than those in the no-nap group on the inhibitory control task in the test session after nap-time period (false alarm rate: 10.7% ± 1.35% vs 16.8% ± 2.23%, p = 0.017). There were no significant differences in the performance of other cognitive tasks, parent-reported daytime sleepiness and behavioral problems between the two groups after two weeks of intervention.
Conclusion Our preliminary findings suggest that providing a brief napping opportunity to primary school students may be a promising approach to ameliorate the effects of insufficient sleep in school-aged children. Further longitudinal follow-up is needed to examine the long-term effects of daytime nap on child’s daytime functioning.
Recommended citation: Wei, J., Chan, N. Y., Yu, M. W. M., Cheung, T. W. F., Yang, X., Zhang, J., ... & Li, S. X. (2019). Effects of short daytime nap on cognitive performance and daytime behaviours in primary school children. Sleep Medicine, 64, S416.