Table 4.

Other methodological approaches: reported directionality, informants for the behavior measure, and sleep measure type (objective/subjective), ordered by the reported directionality.

	Reported Directionality (arrows illustrate the direction of a given relationship24)	Authors	Informant for the behavior measure			Sleep measure
			Parents	Self-report	Teachers	Subjective	Objective
BIDIRECTIONALITY	ODD25 ← → insomnia ADHD symptoms → insomnia insomnia → conduct disorder	Steinsbekk & Wichstrøm (2015)	+			+
	self- & attention regulation ← → sleep problems	Williams et al. (2017)	+			+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleep problems	Kouros & El-Sheikh (2015)	+				+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleep problems	Liu et al. (2021)	+	+	+	+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleep problems	Quach et al. (2018)	+			+
	externalizing behavior ← → behavioral sleep problems	Williamson et al. (2021)	+			+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleep problems externalizing behavior ← → sleep/wake problems adjustment problems ← → sleep problems	Kelly & El-Sheikh (2014)	+	+		+	+
	impulsivity ← → sleep quality/sleep quantity impulsivity ← → insomnia	Bauducco et al. (2019)		+		+
	externalizing behaviors ← → sleep problems	Wang et al. (2016)	+	+		+
	attention problems ← → sleep problems sleep problems → aggression	Gregory & O’Connor (2002)	+			+
	ODD ← → sleep problems	Shanahan et al. (2014)	+			+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleep duration externalizing behavior ← → sleep problems	Kortesoja et al. (2020)		+		+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleep problems	Vermeulen et al. (2021)		+		+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleep duration	Van Dyk et al. (2016)	+	+		+	+
	ADHD symptoms ← → sleep problems sleep problems → conduct problems	Wang et al. (2021)		+		+
	externalizing behavior ← → sleepiness externalizing behavior ← → sleep duration	Kelly et al. (2022)	+			+	+
UNIDIRECTIONALITY	externalizing behavior → increased bedtime resistance	Conway et al. (2017)	+			+
	sleep disturbances → externalizing behavior	Pieters et al. (2015)		+		+
	impulsivity → poor sleep quality	Yaugher & Alexander (2015)		+		+	+
No relationship	Bidirectionality between sleep and behavior was found to be insignificant; the relationship between emotional problems and sleep was the only bidirectionality reported to be significant.	Mulraney et al. (2016)	+			+
	TOTAL (n)		14	10	1	19	5

²⁴A one-sided (→) arrow shows that a factor mentioned on the left impacts the one on the right, whereas a two-sided arrow (← →) indicate a bidirectional relationship between two factors..

²⁵Oppositional-Defiant Disorder.