The latest research has issued results which reveal that adopted children between the ages of nine months and 18 months had problems sleeping in their own beds when they were disturbed by arguing parents. The research carried out by Pennsylvania State University came to the conclusion that owing to the fact there is no genetic link between them and their adoptive parents, environmental factors became an issue. Jenae M Neiderhiser, a professor of psychology at the university, explained the findings. She said that their research showed over a period of time a child’s sleep pattern was likely to be affected if there was marital disharmony at home. This was a major cause in the child having sleep problems. She added that there was more often stress in a home where the child had been adopted and that the parents were under pressure to show their parenting abilities. At the same time as this research was published, the American Academy of Paediatrics issued a statement saying that children over the age of one who shared a bed with their parents would not suffer any developmental or behavioural problems.
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