Introduction: Infant insomnia is highly prevalent, tends to persist when untreated, and is associated with a myriad of adverse child outcomes. Negative consequences for parents have also been demonstrated, including increased maternal anxiety and depression, and poorer physical health. Yet, much less is known about the consequences of infant insomnia on parents’ daytime functioning, and specifically on their driving performance. One study has linked sleep problems with self-reported near miss accidents in parents of infants (Malish et al., 2015). However, it has yet to be examined whether objectively assessed driving is associated with infant insomnia. This study used a simulated driving test to compare the driving performance of mothers seeking treatment for their infants’ sleep problems to two control groups: mothers of infants without sleep problems and childless age-matched controls.

Materials and Methods: A total of 45 women participated in this study (Mage=31.2 SD=5.2; n=13 mothers of infants aged 6-24 months with insomnia, n=13 mothers of infants aged 6-24 months with no perceived sleep problems; and n=19 childless controls). Participants completed a 7-day sleep diary before performing an in-lab computerized simulated driving task. Self-reports of sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), driving (Driving Behaviour Questionnaire) and a demographic questionnaire were completed in the lab. Subsequently, a 25-min monotonous highway driving task was performed. Primary outcome measures consisted of standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP), and the number of lane crossings. General linear modelling was used to assess the effects of group, while controlling for relevant covariates.

Results: Based on sleep diary data, mothers of infants with sleep problems had significantly shorter sleep duration, longer wake after sleep onset, and more nighttime awakenings compared to mothers of infants who were reported to sleep well and childless controls (all ps<0.001). Moreover, daytime sleepiness scores were greater in mothers of poor sleeping infants compared to both control groups (F(2,42)=7.05, p=0.002). As for driving metrics, SDLP was significantly higher in the clinical group compared to both control groups (F(2,42)=5.84, p=0.006), indicating that mothers of infants with insomnia deviated from their lane to a greater extent. Non-significant trends in this direction were observed for lane crossings, as well as for self-reported driving lapses and errors.

Conclusions: Mothers of infants with insomnia had significantly more lane deviations compared to controls. While these findings are preliminary, they indicate that these mothers may be at increased risk for motor vehicle accidents. This risk may be further exacerbated by the presence of an infant passenger in the vehicle (Maasalo et al., 2017). Future research is warranted to replicate these findings, examine these links in fathers of infants with insomnia, and develop prevention programs aimed at raising awareness and managing driving safety risks associated with infant sleep problems.

Acknowledgements: We wish to thank Flinders University for funding this study, Tahlia Cross, Josh Fitton, and Rebecca Fry for their help in data collection, and our participants for their contribution.