{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T04:29:06Z","timestamp":1786422546092,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007109","name":"Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Ferrara","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007109","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Eur J Pediatr"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Sleep disturbances are frequent in childhood and have been associated with emotional vulnerability and modifiable lifestyle behaviours. The relative and combined contributions of child anxiety, parental anxiety, and unstructured daily routines to paediatric sleep disturbances remain incompletely characterized. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 306 otherwise healthy children aged 3\u201314\u00a0years. Parents completed validated questionnaires assessing sleep disturbances, child anxiety, parental anxiety, and daily lifestyle habits, including evening screen exposure. Multivariable linear regression, mediation, and cluster analyses were performed to identify correlates of sleep disturbances and distinct profiles. Clinically significant sleep disturbances were identified in 39.2% of participants. Higher child trait anxiety was consistently associated with greater sleep disturbance severity (all\n                    <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009&lt;\u2009.001). Evening screen exposure was independently associated with higher sleep disturbance scores (\n                    <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009&lt;\u2009.05). Parental trait anxiety not directly associated with sleep disturbances both directly and indirectly through child trait anxiety, which mediated approximately 30% of the association\u00a0(\n                    <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009&lt;\u2009.001). Cluster analysis identified three\u00a0distinct profiles, including two groups with comparable sleep disturbance severity\u00a0but contrasting characteristics: one marked by high emotional vulnerability and one by predominant lifestyle dysregulation.\u00a0\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Conclusion<\/jats:italic>\n                    : Sleep disturbances are strongly associated with trait anxiety and independently related to evening screen exposure, while parental anxiety appears to exert its effect both directly and, in part,\u00a0indirectly through child anxiety. Similar sleep complaints may reflect different underlying emotional and lifestyle mechanisms. A multidimensional assessment integrating anxiety screening and evaluation of evening habits may improve early identification of at-risk children and support targeted preventive strategies within routine paediatric care.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:table-wrap>\n                      <jats:table>\n                        <jats:tbody>\n                          <jats:tr>\n                            <jats:td align=\"left\">\n                              <jats:bold>What is Known:<\/jats:bold>\n                              \u2022\n                              <jats:italic>Paediatric sleep disturbances are common and linked to psychological, family and lifestyle risk factors.<\/jats:italic>\n                              \u2022\n                              <jats:italic>Most studies examine these factors in isolation rather than within an integrated framework.<\/jats:italic>\n                            <\/jats:td>\n                          <\/jats:tr>\n                          <jats:tr>\n                            <jats:td align=\"left\">\n                              <jats:bold>What is New:<\/jats:bold>\n                              \u2022\n                              <jats:italic>Child trait anxiety was the strongest correlate of sleep disturbances and partially mediated the effect of parental anxiety; evening screen exposure and later bedtime contributed independently.<\/jats:italic>\n                              \u2022\n                              <jats:italic>Children with similar sleep disturbance severity showed distinct emotional or lifestyle profiles, supporting multidimensional assessment.<\/jats:italic>\n                            <\/jats:td>\n                          <\/jats:tr>\n                        <\/jats:tbody>\n                      <\/jats:table>\n                    <\/jats:table-wrap>\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00431-026-07254-1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T14:49:12Z","timestamp":1784818152000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Psychological and lifestyle predictors of paediatric sleep disturbances: a cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"185","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5130-1450","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Agnese","family":"Suppiej","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-0673-856X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elia","family":"Sigolotto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8517-4170","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina","family":"Malaventura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"7254_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"637","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pcl.2011.03.003","volume":"58","author":"MA Carskadon","year":"2011","unstructured":"Carskadon MA (2011) Sleep in adolescents: the perfect storm. 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Because it involved a completely anonymous, online form without collection of identifying information, approval by an Institutional Ethics Committee was not required.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","label":"Ethics approval","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Parents or legal guardians provided verbal consent to receive the form, and subsequent participation was entirely voluntary. No personal data were collected.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","label":"Consent to participate","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","label":"Consent to publish","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"During the preparation of this work, the authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI) solely to improve language, readability, and grammatical accuracy. After using this tool, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","label":"Use of AI-assisted technologies","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The funder had no role in the study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; manuscript preparation; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.","order":5,"name":"Ethics","label":"Role of the funder","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":6,"name":"Ethics","label":"Competing interests","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}],"article-number":"603"}}