Marital Discord Adversely Impacts Sleep Quality, Behavior in Children

Marital discord has a powerful impact on the health of families, both physically and emotionally. If you are the parent of children who are directly affected by the conflict in your marriage, it is important to understand how that negative impact may affect the health of your children.

Children require a healthy biological rhythm to functional appropriately on a daily basis. When their biological rhythm is adversely affected, children will suffer from a variety of complications in their growth and development, especially in terms of attention span, memory and focus. In many cases, these symptoms are indicative of a complication involving quality and quantity of sleep.

Your child's long term development will require sleep on a regular basis. Growing brains require sleep. As a result, if your marital discord is resulting in abnormal sleep patterns, your child will not only experience abnormal development in the short term, but also in the long term. Often, it may be several years before you realize the full impact your marital discord, and associated sleep deprivation on your child.

While some child psychologists are quick to assume your marital discord is directly impacting your child's behavior at school, it may be prudent to address the influence sleep has within the equation. Even if your child appears to be going to sleep on time in the evening, and waking in the morning without problem, there may be an issue with sleep walking or other parasomnia. To address this issue in your home, try sleeping on your couch for a few nights or in an area that is close to your child's bedroom. Listen for sound and movement that is indicative of an abnormal sleep pattern.

Often, with counseling and natural remedies such as melatonin, children who are subjected to marital discord can overcome their anxiety, fear and sleep more peacefully and for longer periods of time. With better sleep, you should begin to see an improvement in your child's development, behavior and academic performance. This type of treatment, however, does not mean you should ignore the issues of your own marriage that need to be resolved to end the conflict.