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Infant Sleep Disorders and Attachment: Sleep Problems in Infants with Insecure-Resistant Versus Insecure-Avoidant Attachments to Mother
Patrick McNamara Ph.D, Jay Belsky Ph.D, Pasco Fearon Ph.D
We hypothesized that infant sleep disorders would be significantly associated with infantmother
attachment status. Using current attachment theory, we specifically predicted that
infants classified as insecure-avoidant would contrast with those classified as insecureresistant
(at 15 months of age) in terms of incidence and length of night wakings (at ages
6 and 15 months), as well as clinical sleep problems. Analyses of sleep and attachment
data gathered on the insecure subset (n=342) of a larger sample of more than 1,000
mother-infant pairs indicated, as predicted, that infants with insecure-resistant
attachments (n=49) evinced significantly greater numbers of night wakings and longer
mean durations of night-waking episodes than their insecure-avoidant counterparts
(n=193). Moreover, infants with insecure-resistant attachments were more likely than
infants with insecure-avoidant attachments to evince clinically significant sleep problems.
To explain our findings we suggest a special role for REM sleep in development of sleep
problems and of emotional regulation vis a vis the mother. (Sleep and Hypnosis
2003;5(1):7-16)
| Keywords: night waking, REM sleep, attachment, infant sleep, sleep problems |
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