Examining the Effects of Neighborhood Characteristics on Sleep in Young Children - Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. This section must be no longer than 30 lines of text. Promoting healthy sleep for all children is crucial to foster positive long-term health and development, and environmental factors may play an important role. However, the pathways through which environments contribute to child sleep health are poorly understood. Neighborhood characteristics, including exposure to noise, greenspace, light, perceptions of safety, and social factors, are understudied but potentially important influences on sleep. The purpose of the proposed study is to elucidate how neighborhood characteristics (greenspace, built environment, social cohesion, perceived safety) are associated with child sleep health. I will conduct a secondary analysis of child sleep data from an NINR-funded parent study (The CARING Study, R00NR018876, PI: Condon) and incorporate novel Geographic Information Science (GIS) measures to describe neighborhood characteristics of the sample. The aims of this study are: AIM 1: Describe the physical (neighborhood built environment and greenspace) and social (neighborhood safety, social cohesion) characteristics of the neighborhoods in which children aged 3-5 years live. AIM 1a: Describe physical characteristics (neighborhood built environment and greenspace via Google Street View). AIM 1b: Describe social characteristics (neighborhood safety and social cohesion via parent report). AIM 2: Determine the associations between neighborhood characteristics and indicators of child sleep health. My first hypothesis is that adverse neighborhood characteristics are associated with suboptimal child sleep health (poor sleep efficiency and quality, short duration, highly variable sleep timing). My second hypothesis is that greenspace, neighborhood safety, and neighborhood social cohesion are associated with optimal child sleep health (high efficiency and quality, adequate duration, low variability in sleep timing). The training plan includes specific experiences and expert mentorship to promote extensive knowledge of GIS and sleep. Findings from this study and training plan will provide essential knowledge to support future studies and the creation of multi-level interventions to promote child sleep health. The proposed work will provide a necessary foundation for a nursing science career focused on investigating environmental impacts on sleep health in young children. This project is consistent with national efforts for strategies to prevent chronic disease in children.
