SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS

Group #14 Sophia Gomez Yee Vang Stephanie Villamar

Friday, December 9, 2011

ABSTRACT
Sleep is an essential part of human life, especially for newborns and young adolescence. With sleep as a necessity, various ethnicities practice diering sleeping arrangements based on their cultural behaviors, values, beliefs, and customs. Our primary objective is to focus on sleeping arrangements between Asian American and Mexican American young adults. Furthermore, we want to see how their culture helped shaped their independency and whether or not those factors inuence their sleeping routines with their children. The main factors the study focused on included gender, age, and ethnicity. The 37 participants were between the ages of 18-27 years old. Unfortunately, there were no significant differences between both ethnicities sleeping arrangements.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Bell et al. (1999) reported varying attitudes and practices of new and experienced parents regarding co-sleeping with their newborn infants
through a qualitative study. Although cosleeping is not heavily favored in Western countries, researchers emphasizes on beneficial features to its participants such as infant's sleep pattern, arousal, and reduction of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Cortesi et al. (2008) emphasized quantitative methods to provide evidence on comparisons between sleep, behavioral, and emotional

problems as well as parental relationship and psychological distress in children with sleep problems who were co-sleepers versus solitary sleepers. The study suggests those who co-sleep with parents undergo more sleeping problems such % as high levels of sleep anxiety, frequent night wakings, and later bed times.

Jenni et al. (2005) implemented a qualitative and longitudinal study of children from infancy to adolescent years and focused on their
sleeping patterns. Common factors effecting bed sharing and sleeping problems are emotional, cognitive, and physical changes within the % individual. As a result, they find attachment behavior diverse hours and places of the day between multiple people should be taken in account.

Anuntaseree et al. (2008) reported the ratings of SIDS and how it is increasing in the western countries due to co-sleeping. The Thai

culture believes that sleeping in separate rooms from their children is not safe and have used strategies to avoid smothering their children while co-sleeping. The study concluded that the SES of the family and the culture plays a definite roll in how the child sleeps and also where the child sleeps.

Ball et al. (2000) looked past dyadic sleeping and further into triadic sleeping where the mother, the father, and the baby all sleep

together. This study looked into how it increased the positivity with the relationship with their child and helps them build a stronger relationship with their children. The researchers concluded that fathers that had not tried tradic sleeping had so by the second interview and helped encourage paternal involvement in infant care-giving.

Oppenheim, D. (1998), studied the people of Israel and how they compare to other cultures in co-sleeping. The people of Israel do not

sleep with their children and have no contact during the night. Attachment for young kids and babies is crucial in the early years and limiting that causes concern. He covered the mental issues that arise from mental health implications that come from the communal sleeping story.

results showed that solitary sleeping was chosen because the parents felt it was best for the childs independence; where as parents who chose co-sleeping for the purpose of being physically and emotionally close to their child (2007). though co-sleepers experience less sleep-walking, they were more socially independent. When compared to co-sleepers, solitary sleepers had an easier time when separated from their mothers (Keller & Goldberg, 2004). The findings showed that at 12-months old, co-sleeping infants had less quiet sleep when compared to solitary infants (Mao et al., 2004).
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Germo et al. study was aimed at understanding mothers and fathers experiences of their childs sleeping arrangement. The

Keller and Goldberg (2004) aimed to find the benefits and problems of co-sleeping. The result of the study found that even Mao et al. (2004) used videosomnography to find which infants, solitary or co-sleeping, experience more awakes in the night.

METHODS
Participants: (N=37) - 48.65% Asian American descent - 51.25% Mexican American descent - Age range from 18-27
-Mean=20.59 Mode= 21 Median=21 Outlier=27

Questions: - 12 multiple choice questions given to 42 people via email, facebook,and in-person but only 37 replied - #1-5 were multiple choice - # 6-12 were true or false
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- Male or Female

DESIGN OF STUDY
Survey of Design:

- A 12 question survey was given to 42 participants, of whom 37 replied, regarding their sleeping arrangements of their past experiences and future decisions. - The rating scale was as follows:
Strongly Agree (5), Agree (4), Undecided (3), Disagree (2), Strongly Agree (1)

-The survey consists of questions regarding the participants sleeping arrangements, independency, and childs future arrangements. -The remaining survey questions inquired the following aspects (factors) of the topic: age, gender, and ethnicity. Three major analyses presented in this PowerPoint: (Question 3) We wanted to see the signicant dierence in each cultures sleeping arrangements, if any. (Question 5) We chose this question because we wanted to see the dierence in how Mexican and Asian cultures dier in their views of cosleeping while being raised in an American society. (Question 9) This question was chosen because with our age range we wanted to know who plans on sleeping with their child or possibly already is engaging in co-sleeping.
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DATA ANALYSIS
CULTURE
#3. My culture encourages sleeping by myself rather than with my parents.
Strongly Agree (5) Agree (4) Undecided (3) Disagree (2) Strongly Disagree (1)

Gender
100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 5 4 3 2 1
rating
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Ethnicity
Asians Mexicans 18-21 (I)

Age
22-25 (II) 26-29 (III)

Females

Males

100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 5 4 3 2 1

rating

100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 5 4 3 2 1

rating

DATA ANALYSIS
INDEPENDENCY
#5. I believe the sleeping arrangement I experienced as a child helped shape my independency today.
Strongly Agree (5) Agree (4) Undecided (3) Disagree (2) Strongly Disagree (1)

Gender
Females

Males

Ethnicity
Asians

Mexicans

%18-21 (I)

Age

22-25 (II)

26-29 (III)

100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 5 4 3 2 1

rating
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100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 5 4

rating

100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 3 2 1 5 4

rating

DATA ANALYSIS
FUTURE ARRANGEMENTS
#9. I am planning to co-sleep with my child.
True False

Gender
100% 83% 65% 48% 30% True
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Ethnicity
Asian Mexican 18-21 (I)

Age
22-25 (II) 26-29 (III)

Females

Males

100% 83% 65% 48% 30% False True False

100% 75% 50% 25% 0% True False

INFLUENTIAL FACTORS
Age is an inuential factor because some of the young
adults may already have children of their own where their personal experiences can reect their answers. In addition they may be too old to remember their sleeping arrangements.

Ethnicity is an inuence on the survey because they have dierent views, beliefs, customs, roles, practices, expected behaviors, and manners of interactions on sleeping arrangements based on what they view as a cultural norm.

Gender is an inuential factor due to the dierent

views of a man and woman sleeping arrangements. Also womens maternal roles create convenience when it comes to nursing and caring for the child when engaging in co-sleeping.

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MAJOR FINDINGS
Gender We found that males more than females strongly agree that the sleeping arrangement they experienced helped shape their independency. The majority of both male and females agreed that their cultures encouraged sleeping by themselves rather than with their parents. Males more than females plan on co-sleeping with their child. Ethnicity We concluded Mexican Americans and Asian Americans both agreed their sleeping arrangement experiences helped shaped their independency. 50% of Mexican Americans claim their cultures encouraged sleeping by themselves rather than with their parents. However 47% of them are planning to co-sleep with their children. Overall, Asian Americans say that they will co-sleep with their child where areas Mexican Americans say they will not co-sleep. Age Majority of the ages between 18 and 29 were undecided on the idea that their sleeping arrangements helped shaped their independency Participants between the ages of 26 and 29 equally agreed and disagreed on the idea that their cultures encouraged sleeping by themselves. Ages 22-25 completely agreed that they will co-sleep with their child while ages 18-21 and ages 26-29 show no significant difference on whether they will co-sleep with their child.
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CRITICAL DISCUSSION
Hypothesis Asian Americans will practice co-sleeping arrangement at a higher rate than Mexican Americans. With our knowledge that co-sleeping encourages attachment, we believed more female participants than male participants would plan to co-sleep with their children. In addition, older individuals will practice co-sleeping because of cultural traditions. Race/Ethnicity From the data, researchers found that the hypotheses were disproved. Data shows that 68.42% of Mexican Americans strongly agree/agree with the statement that their culture encourages solitary sleeping; meanwhile, for Asian Americans, only 44.44% strongly agree/agree with the same statement. Germo et al. (2004) explains that parents choose solitary sleeping because they believe it is the best option for teaching children independence. An interesting finding illustrates 68.42% of Mexican Americans strongly agree/agree that their culture encourages solitary sleeping while 47% choose to co-sleep with their children. For Asian Americans, 55.56% declared that they will co-sleep with their children while only 38% agree their culture encouraged solitary sleeping. Gender Looking at gender, results showed that 60% of males plan to co-sleep with their children where only 48.14% of females will plan to sleep with their children. This was due to having only 10 male participants in the research; whereas, there were 27 females. This finding would also disprove Ball et al. (2000) who argues that fathers would be less likely to co-sleep because of their fear of suffocating their child. Age When it comes to age, results showed that 60.71%/ participants between the ages of 18-21 years old will not plan to co-sleep with their children. All but one participant over 21 years old will plan to co-sleep with their children. This result supports our hypothesis that older individuals will plan to co-sleep.
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COMMENTS
(LIMITATIONS)

After reviewing the research, there are several

limitations that can aect our results. Factors that could have aected the research include:
Unrealistic sample Biases Poor data method Media and Societal pressures Socioeconomic Status

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(LIMITATIONS CONT)
1. W were limited to a small sample of participants with a wide e range of ages.

They could have not cared, been ashamed, rushed, etc. There could have been naysayers who disagree with every question. Participants may not understood the question. Co-sleeping could mean various terms to
others which we lacked to clarify a full definition. Co-sleeping may mean bed sharing (child sleeps in same bed) or room sharing (child has separate bed in the same room as an adult). Furthermore, the participants they couldve been referring may be parents, siblings, and other family members. IV. There were many influences aside from gender, age, and ethnicity that we lacked to mention which could have altered their answers.

More

than 33% of our participants were 21 years of age, which was not a sufficient sample of the adolescent population.

Furthermore there is not enough data to make an assumption that culture, age,
and gender has a cause and effect relationship with a certain sleeping arrangement.

With 72.97%

female participants, there was not an equal amount of males and females in the study to make a justified comparison. II. Another limitation was the method used to gather data.

Media and societal pressures were not stated among those. For instance, media such as billboards saying Infant sleeping with knife suggest cosleeping leads to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are highly distributed in Western Societies (Idaho) which could have discouraged these participants from co-sleeping with their future children. (Shaffer, 2009).

Data was gathered three different ways- contact through Facebook, surveying a
group of athletes, and surveying a group of fraternities/ sororities rather than precise and accurate findings. accurate, qualitative result.

Our quantitative method of surveying limited us to find broad generalizations Interviews would have been a better choice of method in order to gather a more With different methods used, data could have been skewed because they were

Western societies do not prefer co-sleeping as much as Asian and Mexican societies There were many influences aside from gender, age, and ethnicity that we lacked to
mention which could have altered their answers.

Media and societal pressures were not stated among those. For instance, media such as billboards saying Infant sleeping with knife suggest cosleeping leads to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are highly distributed in Western Societies (Idaho) which could have discouraged these participants from co-sleeping with their future children. (Shaffer, 2009). Lastly, we lacked to state a socioeconomic feature within the survey.

not passed out randomly. 33% of the participants had a relationship with one of the surveyors. III. Another limitation was that researchers and participants may have bias that affected the result of the wording of the questions or favoring one answer over another.

Western societies do not prefer co-sleeping as much as Asian and Mexican societies
V. Socioeconomic status may have influenced their sleeping arrangements, whether is be from past, current, or future experiences.

Some participants may not have been honest when answering the survey. This They could have not cared, been ashamed, rushed, etc. There could have been naysayers who disagree with every question. Participants may not understood the question. Co-sleeping could mean various
terms to others which we lacked to clarify a full definition. Co-sleeping may mean bed sharing (child sleeps in same bed) or room sharing (child has separate bed in the same room as an adult). Furthermore, the participants they couldve been referring may be parents, siblings, and other family members.
Friday, December 9, 2011

can be due to forgetting their childhoods sleeping arrangement, answering a question due to social norms rather their experience.

Low socioeconomic status (SES) may have led to lack of resources and luxuries, such as
an extra room or bed for children to sleep in, resulting in no other option than bedsharing with parents.

Middle to high SES may have contribute to those luxuries or had working parents who We lacked to ask if their sleeping arrangements in the past was due to no other choice
(such as no extra room/bed) or was due to their parents decision for their child.

choose to have their own sleeping independence in order to gain some nightly rest, thus, resulting in their own childs independence (sleeping alone).

REFERENCES
Anuntaseree, W. W., Mo-suwan, L. L., Vasiknanonte, P. P., Kuasirikul, S. S., Maa-lee, A. A., & Choprapawon, C. C. (2008). Factors associated with bed sharing and sleep position in Thai neonates. Child: Care, Health and Development, 34(4), 482-490. Ball, H. L., Hooker, E., & Kelly, P. J. (2000). Parentinfant co-sleeping: Fathersroles and perspectives. Infant and Child Development, 9(2), 67-74. Bell, H., Hooker, E., & Kelly, P (1999). Where Will The Baby Sleep? Attitudes and Practices of New and Experienced Parents Regarding Cosleeping with Their Newborn Infants. American Anthropologist, Vol. 101, pp. 143-151 Cortesi,F. , Giannotti,F. , Sebastiani,T. , Vagnoni,C. , & Marioni,P. (2008). Cosleeping versus solitary sleeping in children with bedtime problems: Child emotional problems and parental distress. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 6(2), 89-105. Germo, G.R., Chang, E.S., Keller, M.A., & Goldberg, W.A., (2007). Child sleep arrangements and family life: Perspectives from mothers and fathers. Infant and Child Development, 16(4), 433-456. Jenni, O. G., Fuhrer, H., Iglowstein, I., Molinari, L., & Largo, R. H. (2005). A Longitudinal Study of Bed Sharing and Sleep Problems Among Swiss Children in the First 10 Years of Life. Pediatrics, 115233-240. doi:10.1542/peds. 2004-0815E Keller, M.A. & Goldberg, W.A., (2004). Co-sleeping or hinderance for youth childrens independence? Infant and Child Development, 13(5), 369-388. Mao, A., Burnham, M.M., Goodlin, B.L., Gaylor, E.E, & Andreas, T.F., (2004). A comparison of the sleep-wake patterns of cosleeping and solitary-sleeping infants. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 35(2), 95-105. Oppenheim, D. (1998). Perspectives on infant mental health from Israel: The case of changes in collective sleeping on the kibbutz. Infant Mental Health Journal, 19(1), 76-86. Shaer, D.R. (2009). Emotional development and temperament. Social and Personality Development (6th Edition). Stamford, CT: Wadsworth, 109.

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RESOURCES
Co-Sleeping. Yes? No? Sometimes? http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/co-sleeping-yes-no-sometimes

Co-Sleeping and Your Baby http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/cosleeping.html Crib-Sleeping Vs. Co-Sleeping http://www.parenting.com/article/crib-sleeping-vs-co-sleeping Promoting Infant Safe Sleep Practices - Cultural Competence and Community Engagement http://www.anthc.org/chs/epicenter/upload/safesleepSB.pdf Is Co-Sleeping With Infants Dangerous? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100284065 Nationwide Childrens Hospital: Sleep in Newborns (0-2 Months) http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/sleep-in-newborns

Friday, December 9, 2011