COMMENTARY ON SLEEP AND DEVELOPMENT: RECENT ADVANCES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

ABSTRACT The authors of the monograph discuss conceptual and methodological issues in the study of sleep-behavior associations, report on the advantages and disadvantages of various techniques for assessing sleep in infants and children, and suggest the importance of examining sleep-behavior relations across multiple disciplines of influence. The primary focus of this commentary is to highlight how these new perspectives contribute to our emerging understanding of sleep-behavior relations in infancy and childhood, as well as to propose further challenges and avenues for future research. Researchers have long recognized the importance of sleep in infant and child development. Yet the preponderance of early studies on the topic were conducted for the purposes of diagnosing and treating pediatric sleep problems. More recent attention has been devoted to examining associations between sleep and functional outcomes in numerous domains, from those associated with motor development to cognitive functioning to social relationships. These recent advances in the field require an integration of conceptual and methodological issues, consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of techniques for sleep assessment, and focus on sleep-behavior relations acrossmultiple domains of influence. To this end, the authors of this monograph propose a framework for studying the various manners in which contextual factors—from those associated with the child to those linked with culture—impact sleep and behavioral outcomes in a complex, multidirec-tional manner. They also highlight the importance of considering element