1 Department of Psychology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23185
To the Editor.
We write in regard to the article, "Sleep Problems Seen in Pediatric Practice," by Lozoff et al (Pediatrics 1985; 75:477-483). Overinterpretation of problems that may be typical of development in young children is a pitfall in developmental-behavioral pediatrics which can be the result, in part, of methodologic and statistical inadequacies. Two of the most serious problems that may occur are use of designs that do not provide a direct test of the theoretical question(s) posed and speculation about causality where causal ordering cannot be determined.