CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 65Sleep and related disordersSleep and Wakefulness ResearchChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Sleep Terrors in Children: A Prospective Study of Twins

Nguyen, Bich Hong, Pérusse, Daniel, Paquet, Jean, Petit, Dominique, Boivin, Michel, Tremblay, Richard E., Montplaisir, Jacques·2008·Pediatrics
DOI 10.1542/peds.2008-1303
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. There is growing evidence that genetic factors are involved in the occurrence of sleep terrors. Twin studies provide invaluable information regarding genetic and environmental factors that can affect the manifestation of the disease; however, most previous twin studies on sleep terrors were performed retrospectively or with a sample that was too small to yield conclusive results. The aim of this large prospective study was to clarify the genetic and environmental contributions to sleep terrors in childhood. METHODS. In all, 390 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins were recruited at birth for a longitudinal study. The prevalence and frequency of sleep terrors were assessed at 18 and 30 months of age with a questionnaire administered to the biological mother of the twins. Zygosity was determined by a questionnaire and genotyping. The prevalence and polychoric correlation for each type of twins were calculated. Structural-equation modeling was used to determine the proportion of variance attributable to additive genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental factors. RESULTS. The prevalence of sleep terrors was 36.9% at 18 months and 19.7% at 30 months; 49% of affected children were boys, and 51% were girls. At 18 months, the polychoric correlations were 0.63 for monozygotic and 0.36 for the dizygotic twins. These were 0.68 (monozygotic) and 0.24 (dizygotic) at 30 months. Our model-fitting analysis showed that sleep terrors were explained by a 2-component model at 18 months (43.7% additive genetic effects and 56.3% nonshared environment) and at 30 months (41.5% additive genetic effects and 58.5% nonshared environment). CONCLUSIONS. These results strongly support the heritability of sleep terrors. There also seems to be continuity in genetic effects with the persistence of sleep-terror symptoms.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1542/peds.2008-1303

Cites

23 of 23 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Sleep terrors may be familial and there is a strong genetic predisposition.

    “Sleep terrors may be familial and there is a strong genetic predisposition [4, 22, 51, 55].”

    From Sleep Terrors: An Updated Review (2020) · cites this paper as [51]

  • In a prospective study of 390 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins, at 18 months the polychoric correlations for sleep terrors were 0.63 for monozygotic and 0.36 for dizygotic twins; at 30 months they were 0.68 and 0.24, respectively.

    “In a prospective study of 390 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins recruited at birth, the prevalence of frequency of sleep terrors was assessed at 18 months and 30 months of age [51]. At 18 months, the polychoric correlations were 0.63 for the monozygotic twins and 0.36 for the dizygotic twins. At 30 months, the polychoric correlations were 0.68 for the monozygotic twins and 0.24 for the dizy”

    From Sleep Terrors: An Updated Review (2020) · cites this paper as [51]

  • Sleep terrors are much more common in monozygotic versus dizygotic twins.

    “The condition is much more common in monozygotic versus dizygotic twins [32, 51, 59].”

    From Sleep Terrors: An Updated Review (2020) · cites this paper as [51]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 24 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Nguyen, B. H., Pérusse, D., Paquet, J., Petit, D., Boivin, M., Tremblay, R. E., & Montplaisir, J.
Affiliations
  • Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal (CA)
  • Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital
  • Research Unit on Children's Psychosocial Maladjustment (CA)
ORCID
Venue
Pediatrics
Publisher
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Published
2008-12-01
Volume
122
Issue
6
Pages
e1164-e1167
ISSN
  • 0031-4005 (ISSN-L)
  • 1098-4275
DOI
10.1542/peds.2008-1303
OpenAlex
W2162562309
Cited by
65
References
24
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
FWCI
6.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • PEDIATRICS (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
sleep terrors, parasomnias, heritability, monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, additive genetic effects, nonshared environment, shared environment, pediatric sleep disorders, prevalence
MeSH terms
Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Infant, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Prospective Studies, Quebec, Twins, Twins, Dizygotic, Twins, Monozygotic, Prevalence, Age Distribution, Sex Distribution, Risk Assessment, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Night Terrors

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review