PARENTS AND CHILDRENS RATINGS OF SLEEP BEHAVIOR, EXCITEMENT, AND TIREDNESS - A 10-WEEK LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

In a 10-week longitudinal study, 29 parents and their children kept da ily records of the childrens sleep behaviors, excitement levels, and t iredness levels. Although the hypothesized increase in sleep behaviors such as sleepwalking and restlessness during the week of Christmas di d not occur, children rated as more excitable by their parents and the mselves exhibited a higher frequency of sleep behaviors. Positive asso ciations were also found between averaged tiredness ratings and sleep scores. The results support previous findings of an association betwee n arousal characteristics of children and their sleep behavior. Modera te validity coefficients were obtained for parents' and children's rat ings of excitement, tiredness, and nocturnal waking.