A new study supports the theory that the cause of sleepwalking is often genetic, through an unknown gene. It also revealed that child sleepwalking is often triggered by "night terrors" during early childhood.
Children with one parent who does sleepwalking are three times more apt to be sleepwalkers themselves. Meanwhile, when both parents are sleepwalkers, the child's likelihood of being a sleepwalker rises by a factor of seven.
The study's authors published their findings in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday. They wrote that their findings show a "strong" genetic impact on sleepwalking.
Sleepwalking is also known as somnambulism, according to Los Angeles Times. It involves a person in deep sleep doing a complex task such as talking, sitting up, or walking.
The act of sleepwalking is more common in children than in adults. However, some people sleepwalk in both childhood and adulthood.
In the new study, researchers examined data of almost 2,000 children from Quebec, Canada. They were born in 1997 or 1998.
From age 2.5 to 13 the researchers asked the mothers of the children in the study how often they had sleepwalked during the past year. When the children turned 10 years old the researchers asked the children's mothers if they or their child's father had also been a sleepwalker.
The researchers discovered that the most children were sleepwalking at about the age of 10. A total of 13.4 percent of the children walked during nighttime then.
The percent of children who sleepwalked jumped to 47.4 percent when at least one parent was a sleepwalker. That figure almost tripled to 61.5 percent when both parents were unconsciously nocturnal.
The study also revealed that young children with "night terrors" might be more likely to be sleepwalkers later, according to Huffington Post. About one-third with early childhood night terrors sleepwalked in the future.
Scientists are uncertain about the exact gene that causes sleepwalking. However, they know it is related to managing "slow-wave" sleep.
The study's authors wrote that when one or both of a child's parents were sleepwalkers, they should "prepare" their child for the same behavior. For example, they should avoid sleep deprivation and unusual sleep schedules.