Family synchronizers: Predictors of sleep-wake rhythm for Japanese first-time mothers

Author: YAMAZAKI, Akemi

Source: Sleep and Biological Rhythms, Volume 5, Number 3, July 2007 , pp. 218-225(8)

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Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to describe the association between the regularity of sleep patterns for first-time Japanese mothers in the early postpartum period and the sleep and wake activity of their infants and partners. Longitudinal time-series studies of 101 healthy Japanese childbearing couples were conducted between May 2002 and January 2003. Data were obtained from couples at 32-6 weeks pregnancy and 4-5 weeks after birth. The questionnaire packet for each father and mother included a demographic questionnaire, a sleep-wake log for 7 days, a social rhythm metric for 7 days and a morningness-eveningness questionnaire. A four-stage hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed in which the mother's sleep-wake rhythm strength was the dependent variable. The variance in postpartum sleep-wake rhythm strength for first-time mothers was explained by three predictor variables. Household income, the mother's chronotype during pregnancy and the father's daily social rhythm at 4-5 weeks after birth made unique contributions to the variance (24.7%) in the mother's sleep-wake rhythm strength at 4-5 weeks postpartum. A mother's own tendency to be a morning or evening chronotype and the regularity of the father's daily schedule of activities appear to influence first-time mother's sleep-wake rhythm strength during early postpartum recovery more than disruptions from the infant's sleep-wake activity itself. Health-care providers should counsel couples on how factors associated with the parents themselves may impact on the regularity of a mother's sleep patterns.

Keywords: circadian rhythms; father; mother; sleep deprivation

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1479-8425.2007.00274.x

Publication date: 2007-07-01