Sleep and Development in Context: Multilevel Influences and Developmental Implications

Abstract

ABSTRACT This introduction to the Social Development Quartet highlights four articles that examine sleep as a fundamental developmental process that both shapes and is shaped by other developmental systems. The first two articles focus on multilevel influences on sleep, including early family dynamics (coparenting), later individual behaviors (technology use), and broader societal contexts (the COVID‐19 pandemic). The latter two articles examine the developmental implications of sleep, highlighting the importance of maternal prenatal sleep for offspring brain and socioemotional development, as well as the role of children's sleep in school engagement and functioning. Across studies, personal (child sex) and contextual (e.g., socioeconomic risk) factors emerged as important moderators of sleep‐related associations. Together, these articles span critical developmental periods from the prenatal stage through adolescence and employ rigorous sleep assessments, including nighttime home observations, actigraphy, and validated self‐report measures. Consistent with a relational developmental systems perspective, this body of work demonstrates that sleep is embedded within and dynamically interacts with multiple developmental systems, pointing to promising directions for future research.