NCT06025669

Effects of Nap Restriction on Preschoolers' Empathy, Prosocial Behaviors and Executive Function

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 25 (actual)
• Sponsor: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 42 Months – 72 Months
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Cross-sectional evidences suggest a relationship between early childhood sleep and cognitive as well as socio-emotional functions. However, the casual relation has not been fully revealed. The current study aims to perform a randomized lab-based crossover nap restriction study on preschoolers, to determine the effects of sleep restriction on preschoolers empathy, prosocial behaviors as well as executive functions.

Detailed description

The study will enroll preschoolers with regular nap habits. Under a randomized repeated-measures crossover design, they follow a strict sleep schedule (≥ 12.5 hours' time in bed every 24 hours) for 5 days, before each of two pseudorandomly assigned afternoon assessments following nap-rested or nap-restricted conditions. Actigraphy is applied to monitor sleep, and occipital alpha power is detected from resting-state EEG to objectively measure sleepiness. Empathy (Empathic for Pain Event-related Potential Paradigm) and prosocial behaviors (Concern for Others Behavioral Paradigm) were measured at each assessment. The effects of nap restriction were analyzed with paired t-test/Wilcoxon matched-pairs sign rank test and repeated-measures ANOVA.

Conditions

• Sleep Restriction

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Nap restriction	There are 2 interventions in the single-arm, that is, the nap rested condition and the nap restriction condition. The sequence of nap intervention followed randomization.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-09-06
• Primary completion: 2023-12-31
• Completion: 2023-12-31
• First posted: 2023-09-06
• Last updated: 2024-01-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: China