There was a recent study authored by Dr. Xianchen Liu, MD, PhD, and colleagues of the University of Pittsburgh, where it was found that there was a connection between sleep disorders in children and depression.
The study was conducted on 553 children with a depressive disorder. Out of this study group, 72.7 percent had sleep disturbance, of which 53.5 percent had insomnia alone, nine percent had hypersomnia alone and 10.1 percent had both disturbances.
A difference in the ages of the children seemed to have no important effects, but it was found that girls who were depressed were more likely to suffer from sleep disturbances than boys.
What made the study also interesting was the finding that it is just not insomnia (too little sleep) that is connected to depression, but also hypersomnia (too much sleep).
The significance of this study shows that children who are depressed may suffer from one or both types of sleep disturbances and should actively address this when working with a physician -- because it was found that children who suffered from both depression and a sleep disorder were more severely depressed and stayed depressed longer.
If you have children, know that experts' standard recommendation is that children who are school aged should get about 10-11 hours of sleep and that pre-school aged children should get 11-13 hours of sleep.
If your children aren't logging in these types of hours of sleep at night - experts recommend consulting with your pediatrician and perhaps a sleep specialist -- as we now know that insomnia or hypersomnia may be a predictor of depression.