JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Young children may experience sleep problems early in life that affect child development outcomes. Parents are seeking help for their child’s sleep health on social media platforms. The extent to which digital technology is being used as interventions for sleep problems in children, however, is unknown. We aimed to examine the landscape of sleep health digital interventions among parents to improve sleep health outcomes among their children.

Objective:

To investigate the use of digital technology as a resource to facilitate parental interventions aimed at enhancing sleep health among children in early childhood (3 –8 years old) is the primary objective of this review.

Methods:

We performed a scoping review of peer-reviewed articles published from inception to 2023 for the following databases: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science including FSTA and Scielo, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Engineering Village, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, Global Health and citation searching. In conjunction with the authors, two librarians conducted an extensive literature search, and the strategies can be found at [osf.io/74hba]. An updated search was conducted in October 2024. The review encompassed a systematic process of identifying key terms related to sleep, communication, parental involvement, and internet-based intervention. Inclusion criteria consisted of intervention studies with parents of children 3-8 years old via digital communications (e.g. social media, telehealth, websites, mobile apps, wearable devices) to address sleep health in their child. Exclusion criteria was comprised of platforms unrelated to sleep, studies that digitally recruited participants but did not use a digital platform, studies with children outside the target age range, or protocol studies.

Results:

Eleven articles met the final inclusion criteria. A final sample size of 396 parent-child dyads across Australia, Germany, Mexico and the United States were enrolled. Mean child age was 5 years old and mean parent age was 35. Mobile apps, internet-based websites and Facebook groups were the most common mobile health digital intervention modalities. Sleep health behavior outcomes in children addressed by digital mobile health solutions included bedtime resistance, night wakings, sleep onset, sleep duration, and independent sleep in child’s own bed. Sleep health outcomes also included positive improvements in parent sleep health education.

Conclusions:

Mobile apps, websites, social media and telehealth modalities for digital sleep health interventions have the potential to ameliorate sleep problems in young children. Digital interventions may improve sleep and wellbeing in the family unit, given improvements in parent sleep, mood and mental health that were reported as well. Clinical Trial: This review was registered online with OSF and can be found at, Review Registration: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/TNFY2