Associating sleep quality, quality of life and child poly-victimization

Background The role of sleep deprivation in the relationship between child poly-victimization and pediatric quality of life (PedsQL) has received little attention. Objective This study aims to provide a profile of the association between child victimization and poly-victimization and PedsQL among children, examining the role of sleep quality patterns in these relationships. Participants and setting We conducted a cross-sectional school survey study of family structure and child victimization among families in Hong Kong in 2016–17 with two-stage stratified sampling. The final sample consisted of 5, 567 students recruited from a representative sample of 107 kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools in all districts of Hong Kong. Methods Multi-phase regression analysis and simple slope analysis were conducted to examine the moderating effects of sleep quality between child victimization and PedsQL. Results The findings showed that children who experienced four or more types of victimization were more likely to show parasomnia and daytime dysfunction symptoms than those experiencing one to three types of victimization and non-victims. It also revealed significant relationships between child poly-victimization and lower levels of PedsQL, which were moderated by parasomnia and daytime dysfunction. Conclusions This study has implications for clinicians in targeting the pattern of sleep changes combined with holistic screening in outpatient services for early detection of child poly-victims.