ArticleBMJ paediatrics open2020
Prevalence and stability of insomnia from preschool to early adolescence: a prospective cohort study in Norway.
Article in BMJ paediatrics open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Biological Sex Differences in Sleep Spindles and Slow Wave Activity in Adults With and Without Insomnia.Journal of sleep research · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) in Individuals With Neurodevelopmental Conditions: A Systematic Review.Journal of sleep research · 2025Pooled it
- Treating preschooler behavioural sleep problems via parent-mediated telehealth: A randomized controlled trial.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2026Trial
- Sleep cognition among adolescents: adaptation of the dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep-16 (DBAS-16) scale in Indonesian.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Fears and Worries at Nighttime in Young Children: Development and Psychometric Validation of a Parent-Report Measure (FAWN-YC).Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Early childhood insomnia phenotypes and temperament: a theoretical review with clinical implications for precision assessment and treatment.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026Review
- Developing a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia Intervention for Adolescents With Co-Morbid Mental Health Using an Iterative Expert Consultation Process.Journal of sleep research · 2026Article
- Article
- Helping Clinicians Conceptualise Behavioural Insomnia in Children: Development of the Manifestations and Vulnerabilities of Behavioural Insomnia in Childhood Scale (MAVBICS).Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Feasibility of an Unguided, Parent-Focused, Online Program for Sleep Problems in Young Children: The Lights Out Online Program.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Depression in High-Risk Offspring: The Mediating Role of Sleep Problems.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Article
- Article
- Qualitative Exploration Toward the Development of a Parent-Rated Scale for Insomnia in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Article
- Predictors of early adulthood insomnia following exposure to a single mass violence attack during adolescence: 7-13 year follow-up from the Utøya and HUNT studies.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
- Examining the sleeping habits of preschool and elementary school children in Southern Slovakia.Central European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Parental drinking, mental health and educational level, and offspring's subsequent prescription drugs treatment for sleep problems. A longitudinal HUNT survey and registry study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Sleep habits and sleep disorders in Italian children and adolescents: a cross-sectional survey.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2023Article
- Child Eveningness as a Predictor of Parental Sleep.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Clinical characterization of insomnia in adolescents - an integrated approach to psychopathology.Sleep medicine · 2022Article
- Contributory Factors for Teen Insomnia Symptoms: A Prospective Cohort Study in Sweden.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is limited knowledge about the prevalence and stability of insomnia defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). We therefore provide such estimates from preschool to early adolescence and explore potential sex differences.
methodsWe followed a representative community sample (n=1037) biennially from 4 to 14 years of age (2007-2017). Insomnia diagnoses and symptoms were captured by a semistructured clinical interview of parents and children (from age 8 years).
resultsAt ages 4 and 6 years approximately 2.5% of children met the criteria for insomnia, whereas at ages 8, 10, 12 and 14 years the prevalence ranged from 7.5% to 12.3%. During the 10-year period examined nearly 1 in 5 children had insomnia at least once (18.7%). Sex differences were apparent with DSM-IV, but not DSM-5, criteria: boys (8.1%) had more insomnia than girls (4.5%) did at ages 4-10 years, whereas girls (11.4%) had more insomnia than boys (7.1%) did at ages 12 and 14 years. Insomnia proved stable, with 22.9%-40.1% of children retaining their diagnosis 2 years later. Having current insomnia produced medium to large ORs of between 5.1 (95% CI 2.6 to 9.8) and 15.3 (95% CI 4.4 to 52.9) for subsequent insomnia 2 years later compared with not having preceding insomnia.
conclusionsInsomnia was less prevalent than previous research indicates, with nearly 1 in 5 participants having insomnia at least once between the ages of 4 and 14 years. Female preponderance emerged in early adolescence. Having insomnia at one time point was a considerable risk for subsequent insomnia, indicating that insomnia is persistent and warrants clinical attention.
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