Parent-Infant Sleep as Co-Occupation: A Meta-Ethnography of Parent Experiences and Perspectives
Citation:
Flynn, Patricia Bernadette, Parent-Infant Sleep as Co-Occupation: A Meta-Ethnography of Parent Experiences and Perspectives, Trinity College Dublin, School of Medicine, Occupational Therapy, 2024Download Item:
Abstract:
Sleep is a key component of health and wellbeing for both adults and infants and has implications for daytime functioning and quality of life. Infants' sleep patterns in the first two years involve unpredictable, short sleep bouts occurring across day and night that typically differ greatly from their parents' sleep patterns. Parents identify infant sleep as one of their primary postnatal concerns; however, in the current body of research there is an incomplete understanding of the phenomenon of parent-infant sleep and considerable variance in the definition and reported prevalence of infant and parent postnatal sleep problems.
The aim of this meta-ethnographic synthesis is to generate a novel understanding of parent-infant sleep by exploring the phenomenon through the lens of co-occupation. The construct of co-occupation offers a theoretical lens that describes subjective, interactive occupational experiences across spatial, temporal, and relational domains while acknowledging the influences of socio-cultural factors.
A systematic search of English language qualitative studies of parents' perspectives on and experiences of parent-infant sleep resulted in the inclusion of 59 studies from a wide range of disciplines and geographical locations. Meta-ethnographic analysis and synthesis of the data generated three themes: mutual wellbeing: meeting parent and infant sleep needs; parent protection of the sleeping infant; and connection: sleep and the parent-infant relationship. This synthesis describes the relationships between these three themes in their broader socio-cultural context to generate a novel understanding of parent-infant sleep as an interactive, dynamic, and subjective phenomenon where parents' sleep experiences are shaped by their infant's sleep and vice versa. By applying the co-occupational theoretical lens, this synthesis describes a diverse range of parent-infant sleep experiences, while highlighting the aspects of participating in interactive parent-infant sleep activities that were consistent across studies. The findings identify mutual sleep-related wellbeing and infant safety and security as parent-infant sleep needs and describe how these needs are negotiated within the context of the parent-infant relationship. The concept of parent-infant sleep pattern synchrony is proposed to describe the degree to which a parent perceives both their own and their infant's sleep needs to be adequately met and, accordingly, the extent to which participation in co-occupational parent-infant sleep activities is experienced as satisfactory. The findings are presented as a written line-of-argument synthesis with a diagrammatic representation demonstrating the inter-relationships between the synthesis themes which are subsequently discussed in the context of existing literature.
This synthesis contributes to the body of research by recognising the inherently interactive nature of engaging in co-occupational parent-infant sleep activities, irrespective of whether participation is experienced as rewarding or challenging. By describing the bidirectional interplay of parent and infant sleep needs in shared space and time within the context of their relationship, this synthesis has the potential to impact how parents' and infants' sleep-related wellbeing, infant sleep safety, and parent-infant relationship dynamics are supported. The findings of this synthesis can be used to prioritise the role and support the professional reasoning of occupational therapy practitioners working with parents and infants by broadening the understanding of co-occupational parent-infant sleep experiences to incorporate the complexity, challenges, subjectivity, and range of influences involved. Further research to test the application of the findings is recommended.
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APPROVED
Author: Flynn, Patricia Bernadette
Advisor:
Spirtos, Anne-MichelleGibbs, Deanna
Publisher:
Trinity College Dublin. School of Medicine. Discipline of Occupational TherapyType of material:
ThesisCollections
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