New Delhi:
Children who experience chronic sleep deprivation from childhood may be at increased risk of psychosis in early adulthood, a new study shows.
By analyzing the sleep duration of nearly 12,400 children from ages 6 months to 7 years, researchers found that those who consistently slept fewer hours were more than twice as likely to develop a psychotic disorder in early adulthood.
It also turned out that these children were almost four times as likely to have a psychotic episode, in which one loses contact with reality and can experience hallucinations.
While persistent or chronic sleep deprivation as a child does not directly cause psychosis as an adult, it can be a contributing factor and parents can help address it, said lead author Isabel Morales-Munoz of the University of Birmingham, UK. .
The researchers also said that while previous studies have linked sleep problems to psychosis, this is the first study to show that chronic sleep deprivation can be a strong predictor of an individual experiencing psychosis. The findings were published in The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry.
“It's completely normal for children to experience sleep problems at various points in their childhood, but it's also important to know when it's time to get help. Sometimes sleep can become an ongoing and chronic problem, and this is where we see links with psychiatric disorders in adulthood,” he added.
The researchers also analyzed data from about 4,000 adults when they were 24 years old.
Although the team found a robust link between persistent sleep deprivation as a child and experiencing psychosis as an adult, they said they have not proven a causal link and other associated factors need to be explored.
For example, when looking at the health of children's immune systems, the researchers measured inflammation levels in blood samples from nine-year-olds. The results showed that a weakened immune system could partially explain the link between sleep deprivation and psychosis.
However, other unknown factors are likely important as well, the researchers said.
“We know that early intervention is very important in helping young people with mental illness. Understanding the role that good sleep hygiene plays in positive mental health could be a very important part of this process,” said Morales-Munoz .
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)