One unlikely behavior could indicate whether your adolescent child is more likely to behave badly, researchers have found.
Tweens—aged around 9 and 10 years old—who snore often are more likely to have behavioral problems, according to a new paper in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Snoring has previously been found to be linked with cognitive and behavioral problems in young children but, until now, not much was known about the association in older kids.
"In this cohort study of 11,862 adolescents, frequent snoring was associated with greater problem behaviors but not with lower cognition," the researchers wrote in the paper.
Snoring is caused by the partial obstruction of airflow through the mouth and nose during sleep. When you sleep, the muscles in your throat, tongue and soft palate relax, but if these muscles relax too much then they can partially block the airway. When air flows through this narrowed passage, it causes the tissues to vibrate, leading to the sound of snoring.
"The most common factors associated with increased risk for snoring in children are adenotonsillar hypertrophy [enlarged throat tissue] and obesity. While snoring in otherwise healthy children was historically considered benign, nearly all clinical societies advocate for the early evaluation and management of snoring," the researchers wrote.
Habitual snoring is defined as it happening three or more nights per week, which may be a sign of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). SDB is a group of conditions that involve abnormal breathing patterns during sleep, ranging from mild issues like snoring to more severe conditions like sleep apnea, which can impact sleep quality and lead to serious health problems if untreated.
"SDB is associated with poor academic performance, specifically language, arts, math, science, and learning problems," the researchers wrote. "A recent, comprehensive, and high-quality meta-analysis of 63 studies demonstrated multiple deficits across cognitive domains in children with SDB, especially within the full-scale intelligence quotient and the subdomains of problem-solving, working memory, processing speed, and language."
While increased snoring was associated with worse behavioral outcomes in adolescents, there were no impacts on cognition, the study showed. The researchers also found that the proportion of adolescents who snored decreased over time.
"Snoring was not associated with cognitive deficits or decline over 5 years. However, snoring was associated with a greater burden of problem behaviors, but children who snored did not exhibit significant worsening of their behavioral problems over time," the researchers wrote.
They noted that this study has several limitations, including that they may not have picked up subtle cognitive impairments that could be associated with habitual snoring in their assessments. Additionally, most of the children had an average BMI, while snoring worst affects people with higher BMIs. Parents may also misreport the frequency of their children's snoring.
Regardless, the researchers suggest that parents can use these findings to determine if their tween's snoring needs treatment.
"These results may assist parents and clinicians in shared decision-making concerning the treatment of SDB in adolescents, especially before adenotonsillectomy [the removal of tonsils and adenoids], and choosing nonsurgical approaches such as watchful monitoring of their symptoms," they said.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about sleep? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
English (US) ·