ABOUT THE STUDY
The demands of early parenthood and their impact on the ability to obtain rest and sleep are exponentially increased for parents of twins. Twin births have risen 75% since 1980, increasing the number of parents at high risk for partial sleep deprivation, also referred to as sleep restriction. Sleep restriction results in depression and fatigue that can adversely affect parents’ ability to meet childrearing demands. Singleton infants in general have many needs and parents find it difficult to attend to all of them. With twins, the needs are multiplied. Additionally, over 58% of live-born twins in the U.S. are delivered preterm. Preterm infants are more fragile, require more vigilant care, and show preference for nighttime wakefulness, further placing parents of twins at risk for sleep restriction.
While common sense indicates that parents of twins are likely to perceive their sleep as inadequate, no research documents the risk for sleep restriction while caring for multiple infants and the adverse effects that result from it. Recent evidence supports significant associations among sleep restriction and maternal fatigue and depression. Mothers of twins are at particularly high risk for depression; previous studies have found depression to occur in 29-42% of mothers of multiples, compared to an overall prevalence of 13% in postpartum women with one infant. Sleep restriction experienced by mothers of multiples may play a role in this increased risk for depression. Adverse effects of maternal depression on the quality of mother-child interactions and on the child’s biological and behavioral development are well supported. Postpartum depression is linked to less affectionate and withdrawn or intrusive and hostile maternal behavior.Childrearing conveyed with inappropriate emotion influences a child’s ability to form positive social relationships throughout life.
The long-term objective is to obtain essential information for an intervention study to evaluate and test an intervention that minimizes sleep restriction and its adverse effects to allow for optimal parenting of twins.
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