1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study’s first objective was to describe, among parents of a 0- to 24-month-old child, […] the perceived negative impacts of lack of sleep, and […] their help-seeking behaviors for their child’s sleep. [A] second exploratory objective was to identify which aspects of the child’s sleep were their greatest sources of concern for the parents as well as their preferred intervention modalities. A third exploratory objective was to identify the factors associated with […] a more negative impact of lack of sleep, […] more concerns regarding the child’s sleep, and […] greater interest in sleep interventions. […] Finally, a fourth objective was to explore the specific profile of preferences for some intervention modalities among parents who are most in need of help (low self-efficacy, high concern for the child’s sleep, high negative impact of lack of sleep).» (p. 348-349)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Inclusion criteria were […] being the mother or the father of a child aged from 0 to 24 months, and […] living in the province of Quebec, Canada.» (p. 349) In total, 20 fathers and 932 mothers participated in this study.

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

This study’s «findings suggest that early childhood sleep interventions would benefit from the inclusion of two key components. First, sleep interventions should address how lack of sleep may challenge the relation between new parents. Among several life domains, the romantic relationship was the most negatively affected by the impact of postpartum sleep among mothers and fathers. […] Second, sleep interventions should aim at enhancing PSE [parental self-efficacy] in the narrow domain of child sleep. Indeed, sleep-related PSE was the best predictor of the perceived negative impact of postpartum sleep and the level of concern regarding the child’s sleep, making it a potential target for intervention. To enhance PSE, interventions should offer opportunities for success […]. For instance, professionals may, as a first step, establish with the parents’ goals and tasks that are manageable rather than focussing on behavior change. […] Self-efficacy interventions may be necessary for knowledge to lead to behavior changes […] and as such would be a powerful addition to educative sleep interventions. Because the self-efficacy interventions that are most effective to improve parenting skills are those that last longer (> 10 weeks […]), their inclusion in large-scale programs may prove costly.» (p. 359)