Drawing of their own sleep by children with sleep-disordered breathing gives insight into their imaginary life

Abstract

Aim: To examine how children with sleep-disordered breathing express their own sleep through drawing.

Methods: Children hospitalised for a sleep study in a sleep laboratory of a tertiary hospital were asked to draw a human figure and themselves while asleep. Characteristics of the two drawings were analysed and compared along with a descriptive analysis of some drawings.

Results: Children with sleep-disordered breathing and an associated disorder, n = 34, age 5-11 years, participated in the study. The size of the human figure, the colours used, the orientation of the sheet, the type of drawing strokes and the objective quality of the drawing were comparable between the two drawings. On the sleep drawing, 71% of the children drew a bed, 15% drew themselves asleep, 19% represented snoring and 12% night elements. Sixty-two per cent of the children preferred the human drawing to the sleep drawing. A descriptive analysis of 12 drawings showed the influence of the associated disorder on the two drawings.

Conclusion: This study showed how the associated disease of children with sleep-disordered breathing infiltrated their imaginary life. The sleep drawing gave useful information about representation, fears and wishes in relation to the associated disease and the child's sleeping.

Keywords: drawing; emotion; hospital; sleep quality; sleep-disordered breathing.