Exploring the Nexus between Maternal Health Literacy, Children’s Sleep Habits, and Their Quality of Life: A Descriptive Correlational Study

Background and Objectives: Maternal health literacy significantly impacts children’s development, influencing sleep habits and overall quality of life. By enhancing maternal understanding of health information, better health outcomes can be achieved, especially for hospitalized children. This study aims to explore the relationship between maternal health literacy, children’s sleep habits, and their quality of life.Materials and Methods: A descriptive correlational study was conducted in the pediatric wards of Be’sat Hospital in Hamedan, Iran. One hundred mothers and children who were hospitalized in the pediatric wards were recruited using a convenience sampling method. The mothers had a mean age of 32 years, and the children had a mean age of 10 years. Maternal health literacy was assessed using the Health Literacy Scale for Adults (HLSA), while sleep habits and quality of life were assessed using the Pediatric Sleep Habits Questionnaire (PSHQ) and the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ), respectively. The data were analyzed using SPSS v23 with descriptive statistical methods and correlational tests.Results: The results of this descriptive correlational study indicate a statistically significant association between maternal health literacy and children’s sleep habits (p 0.05). However, no statistically significant association was found between maternal health literacy and children’s quality of life (p 0.05). In contrast, a statistically significant association was observed between children’s sleep habits and their quality of life (p 0.05).Conclusion: Recommendations include enhancing maternal health literacy through targeted programs to improve children’s sleep habits and developing educational interventions on sleep health for parents. Further research is needed to investigate the mediating factors influencing the relationship between maternal health literacy and children’s quality of life.