Sleep problems can ''lead to childhood depression''
03/02/2009
Treating sleep problems in young people can prevent children from developing signs of depression, according to a recent research piece from London.
A group of scientists at Goldsmiths College studied the link between 300 sets of twins in England and Wales which were born between 1994 and 1996.
Senior lecturer and the author of the report Alice M Gregory stated that in a previous study, genes were found to be the most important factor in linking depression with sleep problems.
The expert continued: "However, when we examined this issue at age ten, we found that genes were less important in explaining the association and that environmental influences had become more important."
Ms Gregory added that this situation could be due to the environmental experiences becoming more relevant to kids as they grow, adding that these are resulting in playing a large part in depression and sleep problems.
Goldsmiths is home to 8,000 students with a high proportion of mature pupils learning at the facility, which is part of the University of London.
