Yellowstone Times

A psychologist at Montana State University is set to investigate the potential impact of sleep patterns in preadolescent children on later psychiatric conditions such as depression and substance abuse. Associate Professor Cara Palmer, from the Department of Psychology and director of MSU’s Sleep and Development Laboratory, has secured a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for this five-year study.

"My questions have been motivated by other research that has found children who have sleep problems, especially chronic sleep problems, are much more likely to go on to develop issues like depression and anxiety," explained Palmer.

While existing studies have shown connections between inadequate sleep and emotional challenges in adults and older teenagers, Palmer remarked that there is limited information on younger age groups.

"Our goal is to look at these types of relationships in younger kids, right when we start to see a lot of them develop sleep problems and right before we see increased risk for mental health around the transition to middle school and high school," Palmer said.

Palmer, alongside graduate and undergraduate students, will study children between 8 and 12 years old. One part of the research will monitor the children's sleep patterns and their emotional and social experiences over a year. Another study will involve children spending five nights in a sleep lab with a friend, where researchers will analyze the impact of sleep quality on short-term mental health and social interactions.

The research will assess how sleep impacts children's social interactions and their responses to positive situations, behavior linked to future psychiatric disorders. They will also explore a common sleep pattern among children and adolescents: reduced sleep during the week with catch-up sleep on weekends. Palmer noted, "The primary purpose of the study is to try to figure out what exactly are the effects of these different sleep patterns, with the goal of potentially understanding more about recommendations we should be giving parents of kids that age."

Palmer highlighted the current gap in research regarding children's sleep and proposed that understanding the effects of weekend "recovery sleep" might be beneficial for families dealing with schedule-related sleep mismatches.

"If you have a kid who isn’t getting enough sleep during the week, what do you do when they get that opportunity to sleep over the weekend? That’s one potential avenue where we could gain some insight," Palmer commented.

The study will also look into the role of REM sleep and its influence on children's emotional experiences, akin to its significance in adults.

Palmer's research will involve local children, with interested families encouraged to reach out for more information. Participants will receive financial compensation as well as insights into their children’s sleep and mental health.

The overarching aim of the study is to uncover insights into the early development of mental health issues. Palmer stated, "People who start experiencing mental health issues in the teenage years are the ones who are more likely to continue to deal with mental health issues for the rest of their lives. Being able to find ways that we can prevent that from developing in the first place not only will affect kids and teens, but also the mental health of the population as a whole."

For further details on participating in this study, contact Cara Palmer at cara.palmer@montana.edu.