Post-partum depressive dimensions, co-parenting, infants’ health, and sleep quality: how are they related in the first year postpartum?

ABSTRACT Parents are the main contributor to the development of children’s sleep patterns. Familial disorders and parental difficulties could represent a risk factor for children’s sleep onset and maintenance, interfering with their emotional self-regulation strategies. This study investigated whether aspects of parental post-partum depression, agreement between parental perceptions of co-parenting quality, and infants’ at-risk health conditions, explain infants’ longest continuous sleep bouts reported by parents. We enrolled 95 Italian families (33 had children with congenital anomalies) with children aged 8–12 months. A significant effect of post-partum depressive dimensions emerged. Moreover, parental similarities in co-parenting quality moderated the relationship between post-partum depressive dimensions and infants’ sleep in both families with healthy and at-risk children. Our results will deepen our understanding of the risks and protective factors related to children’s sleep for families, healthcare providers, and the general public.