Alignment between Infant Sleep Advice and Parenting Approach: Associations with Advice Use and Satisfaction in a Cross-Sectional Survey of Australian Parents

Heather Liebregts; Alexandra Metse; Andrea Steele; Kelli MacMillan; Rhonda Marriott; Renita Almeida

doi:10.31234/osf.io/7xyge_v1

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Alignment between Infant Sleep Advice and Parenting Approach: Associations with Advice Use and Satisfaction in a Cross-Sectional Survey of Australian Parents

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Alignment between Infant Sleep Advice and Parenting Approach: Associations with Advice Use and Satisfaction in a Cross-Sectional Survey of Australian Parents

Heather Liebregts, Alexandra Metse, Andrea Steele, Kelli MacMillan, Rhonda Marriott and Renita Almeida

PsyArXiv Preprints, Vol.30 July 2026

Cornell University

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/7xyge_v1

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Abstract

Infant sleep

infant sleep intervention

parenting approach

intervention acceptability

early caregiving

Infant sleep is a relational, caregiving experience, yet parents encounter advice about it that varies in how well it fits the way they already care for their infant. How parents engage with this advice may relate to how well it aligns with their usual parenting approach, but this has not been examined. This exploratory study characterised parents' experiences of infant sleep advice from health professionals and other sources and examined whether alignment of advice with parents' usual parenting approach was associated with its use and with satisfaction. An online sample of 201 Western Australian parents (98% female) of an infant aged 0–3 years (mean infant age 16.25 months) rated, for each type of advice received and separately by source, its alignment with their usual way of parenting, whether they had used it, and their satisfaction with outcomes. Complete responsiveness was rated most aligned and used most often; extinction-based approaches least aligned. Health professionals more often provided extinction-based advice and other sources complete responsiveness; 43.5% of parents who received health-professional advice had not sought it. Greater alignment was associated with greater advice use (OR = 3.66 per one point increase in alignment) and higher satisfaction (B = 0.69), more so than type of advice or its source. Results suggest parents' engagement with advice reflects how well it fits their existing parenting approach. Supporting families well may therefore require a broader range of acceptable, relational approaches, attuned to the caregiving relationship rather than to infant behaviour alone.

Details

Title: Alignment between Infant Sleep Advice and Parenting Approach: Associations with Advice Use and Satisfaction in a Cross-Sectional Survey of Australian Parents
Authors: Heather Liebregts (Corresponding Author) - Murdoch University
Alexandra Metse - University of the Sunshine Coast
Andrea Steele - Murdoch University
Kelli MacMillan - Murdoch University
Rhonda Marriott - Murdoch University
Renita Almeida - Murdoch University
Publication details: PsyArXiv Preprints, Vol.30 July 2026
Publisher: Cornell University
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/7xyge_v1
Data Availability: The data supporting the findings of this study are not publicly available because they form part of a larger dataset from which further analyses are in preparation. De-identified data may be made available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, subject to ethical approval
Grants: Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, RTP, Department of Education (Australia, Canberra)
Organisation Unit: Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Health - Psychology
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991251395702621
Output Type: Preprint

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