Infants suffer disrupted sleep patterns that can affect their development as a consequence of family feuds, a new study by an international group of researchers has found.

The researchers sought to assess the relationship between marital instability—for example, parents who were contemplating divorce—and children’s sleep problems—namely, difficulties getting to sleep or staying asleep. Their inquiry was based, in part, on the possibility that changes in the brain systems involved in how children develop and regulate their sleep patterns reflect the impact of family stress on children.

The study also determined whether it was unsettled sleep patterns in infants that affected their parents/carers or whether the quality of parents’ relationships affected the child’s sleep patterns.

What they found surprised the team- instability in a parents’ relationship when the infant was nine months old still affected the child when s/he was 18 months old.
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