Researchers look for children to participate in sleep study

It’s Halloween, and there are few things as frightful as a bad night’s sleep. Researchers at Idaho State University say that for children, sleep could be key to how they interact with others and could even impact their long-term behavioral traits.

“The brain is developing and at that time they are also learning how to control their behavior,” said Dr. Maria Wong, a developmental psychology professor at ISU.

Wong and other researchers plan to study the sleep patterns of 200 12 to 18-year-olds over the next four years as part of a $1.6 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The goal of the study is to determine how much sleep and behavior are intertwined.

“How sleep might affect their mood, how sleep might affect their interaction with friends,” said Wong.

As part of the study, participants will wear what researchers call an “activity watch,” and spent two nights at Portneuf Medical Center’s Sleep Clinic where they’ll be hooked up to electrodes.

“We wanna know how active they are during the day and how restful they are during the night,” said Wong.

Wong said there are still 150 slots available. If you would like your child to participate, you can call 228-5577.

If selected for the study, you could receive up to $240.