No abstract

PurposePediatric, clinical, and research data suggest that insufficient sleep causes tiredness and daytime difficulties in terms of attention-focusing, learning, and impulse modulation in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or in those with ADHD and primary sleep disorders. The aim of the present study was to examine whether sleep duration was associated with ADHD-like symptoms in healthy, well-developing school-aged children.Patients and methodsThirty-five healthy children (20 boys, 15 girls), aged 7–11 years participated in the present study. Each child wore an actigraphic device on their nondominant wrist for two nights prior to use of polysomnography to assess their typical sleep periods. On the third night, sleep was recorded via ambulatory assessment of sleep architecture in the child’s natural sleep environment employing portable polysomnography equipment. Teachers were asked to report symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity on the revised Conners Teacher Rating Scale.ResultsShorter sleep duration was associated with higher levels of teacher-reported ADHD-like symptoms in the domains of cognitive problems and inattention. No significant association between sleep duration and hyperactivity symptoms was evident.ConclusionShort sleep duration was found to be related to teacher-derived reports of ADHD-like symptoms of inattention and cognitive functioning in healthy children.

No abstract

BackgroundChildren with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two to three times more likely to experience sleep problems. The purpose of this study is to determine the relative contributions of circadian preferences and behavioral problems to sleep onset problems experienced by children with ADHD and to test for a moderation effect of ADHD diagnosis on the impact of circadian preferences and externalizing problems on sleep onset problems.MethodsAfter initial screening, parents of children meeting inclusion criteria documented child bedtime over 4 nights, using a sleep log, and completed questionnaires regarding sleep, ADHD and demographics to assess bedtime routine prior to PSG. On the fifth night of the study, sleep was recorded via ambulatory assessment of sleep architecture in the child’s natural sleep environment employing portable polysomnography equipment. Seventy-five children (26 with ADHD and 49 controls) aged 7–11 years (mean age 8.61 years, SD 1.27 years) participated in the present study.ResultsIn both groups of children, externalizing problems yielded significant independent contributions to the explained variance in parental reports of bedtime resistance, whereas an evening circadian tendency contributed both to parental reports of sleep onset delay and to PSG-measured sleep-onset latency. No significant interaction effect of behavioral/circadian tendency with ADHD status was evident.ConclusionsSleep onset problems in ADHD are related to different etiologies that might require different interventional strategies and can be distinguished using the parental reports on the CSHQ.

Transition to school for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) places demands on children, parents, and school settings. The unique experiences of parents from diverse backgrounds have not been studied extensively. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 5 Canadian and 5 immigrant families during the transition to school for their children with ASDs. Parent perceptions of support systems during this transition and their experiences with preschool and elementary school staff were analyzed to understand their experiences. Thematic analyses of parent interviews revealed that parents perceived the quality of care during preschool as more supportive than the care received in elementary school. A variety of resources, such as familial, educational, and community support, seemed to help some Canadian and immigrant families in different ways. The transition to school experiences of parents of children with ASDs has important implications for school psychologists who facilitate and mediate parent–school partnerships and interagency collaboration.