Sleep Problems of Parents of Typically Developing Children and Parents of Children With Autism

Abstract

Few researchers have investigated the relation of children's sleep problems to their parents' sleep problems. Children with autism have been reported to evidence greater sleep problems than do typically developing children (C. D. Hoffman, D. P. Sweeney, J. E. Gilliam, & M. C. Lopez-Wagner, 2006; P. G. William, L. L. Sears, & A. Allard, 2004). In the present study, parents (N = 106) of children independently diagnosed with autism (4-16 years of age; M= 8.20 years, SD = 2.69 years) reported greater sleep problems for themselves than did parents (N = 168) of typically developing children (4-15 years of age; M = 8.62 years, SD = 3.28 years). Children's sleep problems were related to parents' sleep problems for both groups; in the autism group, children's level of symptomatology was not related to their parents' sleep. The authors suggest areas for further research on the sleep problems of children and their parents, the potential interaction of these problems with children's symptomatic behavior, and the relations of these factors to child, parent, and family functioning.

Concordance of Mother/Child Sleep Patterns Using Actigraphy: Preliminary Findings

“…Using objective sleep measurements, our study adds to the growing body of evidence showing an association between sleep initiation and sleep maintenance insomnia and daytime behavior in children [10,13]. Further, our findings augment previous reports showing associations between sleep in the child and parent [7,24,25] and extends previous reports by showing that disrupted nighttime sleep in the child may be associated with daytime sleepiness in the mother. Of interest, our study is one of the first that we are aware of that has reported the impact of a child’s early morning awakening on daytime behavior in children with autism, as well as children with typical development.…”

“…We found few differences between the mothers of the autism spectrum disorder–good sleepers, autism spectrum disorder–poor sleepers, and typical development across the majority of sleep parameters. Whereas parents of children with autism spectrum disorder were previously reported to have shorter actual sleep time then parents of children with typical development [7] in our study differences were found only with sleep onset insomnia and the number of wake-bouts during the night. Previous studies, using parental self-report have differed in their findings looking at maternal sleep across varying types of sleepers.…”

“…In children with autism spectrum disorder the impact of the child’s sleep on the parent’s sleep is often the reason why a child’s sleep is brought to the attention of a medical professional [4]. Recent research has suggested that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder may experience more sleep problems, including poorer sleep quality and quantity than parents of typically developing children [7,8]. Further, mothers of children with poor sleep have been shown to have more mood and stress problems, than those mothers whose children did not have poor sleep [9].…”

Sleep Disturbances and Associated Factors in Chinese Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Retrospective and Cross-Sectional Study

“…Sleep disturbances are the most frequent comorbid conditions for children with ASD [2]. Sleep disturbances are linked to a wide range of negative outcomes, including worsened autistic symptoms, impairments in cognitive and daily functioning in children with ASD [3][4][5][6], and elevated mental problems in their parents [7][8][9]. Furthermore, both cross-sectional [10] and longitudinal [11] evidence suggest that sleep disturbances in children with ASD can persist throughout childhood into later life.…”

Evidence-Based Treatment of Behavioral Excesses and Deficits for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Parents also typically report that their children have sleep problems more frequently, including significant sleep onset and maintenance problems (Malow and McGrew 2008), irregular sleep-wake patterns, early waking, and poor sleep routines (Patzold et al 1998;Mindell et al 2006;Quine 2001;Schreck and Mulick 2000;Honomichl et al 2002). Sleep problems have also been shown to be related to problems with daytime behavioral functioning in children with autism spectrum disorders (Malow et al 2006;Schreck et al 2004) and to sleep problems in the parents of children with autism (Lopez-Wagner et al 2008).…”