While stable and healthy families report good sleep habits throughout development, chaotic households were associated with poorer sleep routine and quality in youth. 

Family Relationship Quality and Sleep Behaviors

Single parent households and families experiencing transition (i.e. divorcing families, step families, etc.) predict poor sleep outcomes. Routines and rules help prevent the development of unhealthy sleep behaviors, like staying up late, sleeping too little or too much, and sleeping in distracting environments. 

Family Structure and Sleep Behaviors

Ongoing family conflict and disorganization can promote unhealthy coping mechanisms and chronic stress, which can lead to high BMIs, inflammation, and irregular heart rate variability. Parents' physical and emotional presence can change children sleeping patterns. Parents mediate hypertension risk in their children by:

• Being a zeitgerber, or an environmental cue and regulator of sleep. 

• Providing enough emotional security for deep sleep.

• Concordance in sleep schedules, or synching parental sleep routines with children routines.

How Family Dynamics Contribute to the Onset of Hypertension

Sleep hygiene habits can be influenced by other family members and are often mimicked. Depending on the functionality of the family dynamic, poor habits promoted within the household can increase risk for hypertension, especially in youth.

Grand Valley State University

Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, is a significant cardiovascular disorder and a major risk factor for heart disease. This condition increases the physical strain on the heart by forcing it to pump blood more forcefully. A dangerous aspect of hypertension is that it often presents with no symptoms, leading to its description as the 'silent killer,' as individuals may be unaware they have the condition.

Hypertension

Family dynamics encompass the ways in which individual members interact with each other based on their hierarchies, roles, and identities, and how familial relationships are perceived. Elements of family dynamics include:

• Structure

• Cohesion 

• Conflict style 

• Parenting style 

Family Dynamics

This method of therapy involves changing basic lifestyle habits that influence sleep, such as smoking or drinking too much caffeine late in the day, drinking too much alcohol, or not getting regular exercise. It also includes tips that help you sleep better, such as ways to wind down an hour or two before bedtime. Components of sleep health include:

•Duration

•Timing

•Quality

Sleep Hygiene

Health Psychology research studies relating to Family relationships include
- Grief in Parents Caring for Chronically-Ill Children
- Importance of Skin-to-Skin Care
- Family Dynamics in Sleep Health and Risk for Hypertension


Health Psychology Research Relating to Family

The collective well-being, health behaviors, communication patterns, and relational stability of a family unit. Relationships and family environment can play a large role in psychological and physical health.


Family systems theory, family communication patterns theory, and other research in family health provide a social development perspective in health psychology.

Family Health

Gunn, H. E., & Eberhardt, K. R. (2019). Family dynamics in sleep health and hypertension. Current Hypertension Reports, 21(5), 39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-019-0944-9

Family dynamics in sleep health and hypertension

- We have come up with some prognostic factors to predict the severity of COVID-19 among hypertensive patients. 
- Medical profiles of 598 COVID-19 cases were analyzed. Patients were divided into two comparative groups according to their positive or negative history of hypertension. Then, epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory and radiological features and also clinical outcomes were compared.
- 176 (29.4%) patients had underlying hypertension. Diabetes was significantly higher in hypertensive group 
- In COVID-19 patients with hypertension, severe/critical types were significantly higher.
- Body mass index > 25, age over 60, increased hospitalization period, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease were related with progression of COVID-19.
- Hypertensive patients with Age > 60-year-old, BMI > 25 Kg/m2, CVD, diabetes and chronic kidney disease are associated with poor outcomes in those with COVID-19 infection.

Should all patients with hypertension be worried about developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?

Family Dynamics in Sleep Health and Hypertension

If left unmanaged, hypertension can lead to severe health complications. These include critical cardiovascular events such as a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure. Additionally, it can cause damage to other organs, potentially resulting in kidney failure and blindness.

Consequences of Unchecked Hypertension

A wide range of stressors are linked to the development of hypertension. These include chronic life stressors such as persistent job strain, marital conflict, natural disasters, and exposure to high levels of traffic noise at home. Perceived discrimination has also been identified as a significant factor, particularly among African Americans. Furthermore, acute stress induced in laboratory settings—through tasks like timed mental arithmetic, the cold pressor test (immersing a hand in ice water), mirror tracing, and public speaking—has been demonstrated to cause temporary elevations in blood pressure.

Stress-Related Risk Factors for Hypertension

Read the following scenario and evaluate the individual's situation. Based on the information provided, what is the most significant potential health condition that may be going undetected, and why is it particularly dangerous in this case?

Assessing Unseen Health Risks

Based on the information provided in the scenario below, what is the most significant, often asymptomatic, cardiovascular disorder this individual is likely facing, and why is their self-reported feeling of being 'fine' a critical part of the danger associated with this condition?

Cardiovascular Risk Assessment

A element that impacts the functionality of the family dynamic, cohesion is conceptualized as the nature and strength of familial bonds, characterized by emotional closeness and individual autonomy.

Family Cohesion

Part of the family dynamic, structure refers to the hierarchy and organization of each household unit. Configurations include:

•Nuclear families

•Single-parent families

•Extended families 

•Childless families

•Grandparent families

Family Structure 

- Family relations
- Communication patterns 
- Role and responsibilities
- Emotional climate 
- Power and decision-making

Components of Family Dynamics 

Proposed by Diana Baumrind, this theory suggests that parenting styles are a significant factor in a child's socioemotional development and the formation of a healthy self-concept. The theory outlines four primary styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved, each describing a different approach to raising children.

Diana Baumrind's Theory of Parenting Styles

The generally recommended amount of sleep for adults to function properly and maintain health is between 7 and 9 hours each night.

Recommended Nightly Sleep Duration for Adults

Healthy sleep can be supported by keeping a consistent bedtime and wake time every day, avoiding stimulating activities and bright device light during the hour before bed, exercising daily, avoiding naps, keeping the bedroom cool between $$60$$ and $$67$$ degrees, avoiding alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, and heavy meals before bed, and using the bed for sleep rather than studying, eating, or watching television. If sleep does not come easily, leaving the bed until tired again can help reinforce the bed as a cue for sleeping.

How to Get Healthy Sleep

Skin-to-Skin care is a practice after birth where the infant is dried and laid on the mother's bare chest and in some cases the father. This practice is not only important for the baby but for the mother or father mentally.

Importance of Infant Skin-to-Skin Care.

Introduced by Murray Bowen in the 1950s, family systems theory views households as emotional units with family members having interconnected lives and behavioral processes. Family environments, structures, routines, and relationships influence the development of each individual.

Family Systems Theory

Consisting of conversational and conformity dimensions, family communication patterns theory conceptualizes the way family heirarchies make decisions, transmit attitudes and beliefs, relate to one another, and elicit support. 

Family Communication Patterns Theory

Also known as the causal variables, mediating factors for optimal family health include reflectiveness and adaptability. The processes of seeking understanding from one another and problem-solving indicate the importance of intentionality in maintaining healthy relationships and lifestyles.

Factors Mediating Family Health 

Balance, "all-togetherness", and living purposefully are associated with collective health promotion behaviors as well as environmental stability within the family unit. Choosing to prioritize family relationships and events and including all members in communication and decision-making are some strategies families can use to improve functioning.

Factors Supporting Family Health

Family identity and challenging circumstances can determine how a given household will respond to an event and how resiliently they behave. Family identity consists of the shared beliefs, customs, and tastes a unit has. Challenging circumstances weaken bonds and create a disconnect that can increase the impact of external stressors. Families with strong values and high emotional attunement fare better during stressful times.

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