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

Grand Valley State University

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.

Family Dynamics in Sleep Health and Hypertension

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

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

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.

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