Preterm infant sleep duration moderates the relationship between parental sleep quality and family functioning differently for mothers and fathers, with mothers' relationship being significant only when infants had shorter sleep durations and fathers' relationship being significant only when infants had average or longer sleep durations.
Key Findings
Results
For mothers, the relationship between sleep quality and family functioning was only significant when preterm infants had shorter sleep durations.
The study included 29 mothers of preterm infants born at a mean gestational age of 28.75 weeks, assessed at a mean corrected age of 34.33 days.
Infant sleep duration acted as a significant moderator of the mother sleep quality–family functioning relationship.
The moderation effect was specific to shorter infant sleep durations, not average or longer durations.
Nocturnal awakenings were not a significant moderator for mothers.
Results
For fathers, subjective sleep quality significantly predicted perceived family functioning only when infants had average or longer sleep durations, but not when infants had shorter sleep durations.
The study included 28 fathers from the same 29 families.
Infant sleep duration moderated the father sleep quality–family functioning relationship in the opposite direction compared to mothers.
When infants had shorter sleep durations, paternal sleep quality did not significantly predict family functioning.
Nocturnal awakenings were not a significant moderator for fathers either.
Results
Nocturnal awakenings were not a significant moderator of the relationship between parental sleep quality and family functioning for either mothers or fathers.
Two moderation models were tested separately for mothers and fathers, with both infant sleep duration and nocturnal awakenings tested as moderators.
Nocturnal awakenings failed to reach significance as a moderator in both the maternal and paternal models.
This suggests infant sleep duration plays a more critical role than nocturnal awakenings in shaping parental sleep–family functioning relationships.
Results
The study found differential moderating patterns between mothers and fathers regarding how infant sleep duration shapes the link between parental sleep quality and family functioning.
The sample consisted of 29 families with 37 preterm infants (indicating some families had multiple preterm infants).
Mean gestational age at birth was 28.75 weeks, and infants were assessed at a mean corrected age of 34.33 days.
Parents completed self-reported measures assessing sleep quality, infant sleep, and family functioning.
The opposing directions of the moderation effect for mothers versus fathers highlight sex-specific responses to infant sleep in the context of preterm birth.
Discussion
This exploratory study suggests that targeted interventions supporting mothers and fathers returning home with a preterm newborn should account for parent-specific relationships between infant sleep duration and family functioning.
The authors describe the study as exploratory with a small sample of 29 families.
Findings highlight differences in how mothers and fathers are affected by infant sleep duration in the neonatal period.
The authors suggest these results could guide development of targeted interventions for the specific needs of mothers and fathers.
The context of preterm birth presents unique challenges for both parents and newborns that can affect overall family functioning.
What This Means
This research suggests that when a baby is born prematurely, the amount of sleep the baby gets plays an important but different role for mothers and fathers in terms of how their own sleep affects the overall functioning of the family. For mothers, their sleep quality mattered most for family functioning when their preterm baby was sleeping for shorter periods. For fathers, the opposite pattern emerged — their sleep quality was more strongly linked to family functioning when the baby was sleeping for average or longer durations. How often the baby woke up at night did not appear to change these relationships for either parent.
The study followed 29 families whose babies were born very early (on average at about 29 weeks of pregnancy, roughly 11 weeks premature), and assessed them when the babies reached approximately 34 days of corrected age. Although the sample was small and the study is described as exploratory, the findings point to meaningful differences in how mothers and fathers experience and are affected by their preterm infant's sleep patterns during this vulnerable period.
This research suggests that support programs for parents of premature infants may need to be tailored differently for mothers and fathers, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. Understanding that a preterm baby's sleep duration — rather than just how often the baby wakes up — can shape family well-being differently for each parent may help healthcare providers better target their guidance and interventions as families transition home from the neonatal intensive care unit.
Ramos Socarras L, Lebel V, Forest G. (2026). The moderating role of preterm infants sleep on the relationship between parental sleep and family functioning: An exploratory study.. Early human development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106517