Presleep Arousal and Sleep Disturbances in Children

To determine if associations between presleep arousal and sleep disturbance reported in adults are also characteristic of children. Linear regression analyses examined whether somatic and cognitive presleep arousal predicted sleep disturbances. Two inner city schools, London, U.K. One hundred twenty-three children aged 8 to 10 years, 49% boys, from ethnically diverse backgrounds. N/A. Children completed the Sleep Self-Report and the Pre-sleep Arousal Scale (comprising somatic and cognitive subscales). Parents completed the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire. In separate models, both somatic (beta = 0.44, P < 0.001, R2 = 0.19) and cognitive (beta = 0.48, P < 0.001, R2 = 0.23) presleep arousal predicted the Sleep Self-Report total score. Somatic (beta = 0.28, P