Sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A comparative study and effects on communication skills.
Poor sleep quietly pulls down communication scores in children with ADHD and autism—screen and treat sleep first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Berenguer et al. (2024) compared sleep problems in three groups of children: autism, ADHD, and neurotypical peers.
They also asked whether poor sleep helps explain why more severe symptoms go hand-in-hand with weaker communication skills.
The study used surveys and short assessments, not an intervention, so it shows links, not causes.
What they found
Both the autism and ADHD groups had more sleep trouble than the typical group.
For children with ADHD, poor sleep partly explained the gap between symptom severity and communication scores.
In plain words: fixing sleep might unlock better language for kids with ADHD.
How this fits with other research
Hodge et al. (2014) already showed autistic children sleep worse than peers, and the problems do not fade with age. Carmen’s team adds ADHD to the picture and ties the sleep loss to talking skills.
Tse et al. (2019) ran a small trial proving that thirty minutes of weekday movement improves sleep efficiency in autistic kids. Carmen’s link gives you a reason to pair that movement program with language goals.
Kellems et al. (2016) found night wakings predict aggression and irritability in autism. Carmen shifts the spotlight: the same wakings may also drag down communication, so one sleep target can calm both behavior and language.
Why it matters
If a child’s language is flat-lining, add a five-question sleep screener before you write new goals. When night awakenings or long sleep latency show up, treat them with bedtime routines, exercise, or a referral. Better sleep may boost the payoff from your language sessions, especially for kids with ADHD.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent among children with neurodevelopmental disorders, like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hiperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The first objective of this study is to examine the differences in sleep problems between a group of children with ASD without intellectual disabilities, a group with ADHD and a typically developing (TD) group. A second objective is aimed at analyzing the effects of sleep problems and symptom severity on their communication skills. Participants were 122 children between 7 and 12 years old distributed in three groups: 32 TD children, 47 children with ASD and 43 children with ADHD, matched on age and intelligence. Parents completed different questionnaires that measured sleep disturbances and communication skills. Findings show significant differences between the clinical groups and the TD group in most types of sleep disorders. Moreover, the group with ADHD showed significantly more sleep breathing disorders and hyperhidrosis in comparison with ASD and TD, as well as more total sleep problems. In contrast to ASD, the predictive power of sleep problems on communication difficulties was greater in the group with ADHD. The results of the mediation analysis indicate that in both groups, sleep problems partially mediate the relationship between symptoms and communication. This investigation highlights the need of considering sleep disorders when assessing communication skills in ASD and ADHD, given its indirect influence in this domain. Understanding the sleep dysfunctions of both conditions and their repercussions is crucial to develop adjusted interventions.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2024 · doi:10.1002/aur.3077