Child Sleep Problems Mediate Prospective Associations Between Fathers’ Parenting Stress and Child Blood Glucose Levels

The present study examined the role of first-time fathers’ parenting stress during infancy in relation to children’s mean blood glucose via glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels duringmiddle childhood while also exploring the mediating role of child sleep problems in this association. Atotal of 306 fathers self-reported on parenting stress when their childrenwere 10months old (49% of girls). Fathers also reported on child sleep problemswhen their childrenwere 24months old. Peripheral blood sampleswere collected via dried blood spots fromchildrenwhen they were ~7 years old to assess HbA1c, a marker of diabetes risk. Our results revealed that greater paternal parenting stress predicted father-reported child sleep problems. Furthermore, child sleep problems were associated with greater HbA1c levels in children. Although the direct association between paternal parenting stress and child HbA1c levels was nonsignificant, a significant indirect effect was observed from paternal parenting stress to child HbA1c levels via father-reported child sleep problems. These results highlight a potential pathway through which paternal parenting stress may impact child metabolic health, highlighting the potential value of interventions in early childhood targeting both paternal well-being and child sleep problems to mitigate the transmission of paternal parenting stress and associated risks on children’s health.