SYDNEY, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Children who suffer from major behavioral problems such as bullying or constant restlessness can develop severe insomnia later in adulthood and their parents can help reduce that risk with early intervention, according to a latest Australian research.
The researchers, using data from a long-running British population study involving more than 16,000 cases, found links between moderate to severe childhood behavioral problems and insomnia in adults by the age of 42 years, Flinders University said in a statement about its study on Saturday.
Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in adults, estimated to affect almost one in three people, with chronic insomnia linked to an increased risk of mental health and other wellbeing and economic consequences including working capacity, it said.
"This study shows a consistent association of behavioral problems during childhood, particularly at ages 5 and 10 years, with insomnia symptoms in adulthood," said the university's Robert Adams, also senior author of the findings published in the JAMA Network Open medical journal.
"The findings suggest that early intervention to manage children's externalized behaviors, such as bullying, irritability or constant restlessness, may reduce the risk of adult insomnia," he said.
"As well as identifying sleep problems early in life, we should also identify children with moderate to severe behavioral problems that persist through childhood as potential beneficiaries of early intervention with a sleep health focus."
"This study is the first to our knowledge to suggest an unfavorable association between early-life behavioral problems in children and addressing insomnia, from a life-long perspective," university researcher Yohannes Adama Melaku said.
"Given the cost of sleep disorders, including insomnia, to every economy and society in the world, it's another important step towards managing this endemic problem in the community," he said.
"This first study is important because we don't know exactly the childhood or early-life factors that potentially influence this outcome of insomnia and finding these connections could reduce sleep disorders in the future."
