Possible Sleep Bruxism in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Association with Parental Stress and Sleep Disorders.
Nighttime teeth grinding in kids with autism flags hidden sleep and parent stress problems you can act on.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Costa-Silva et al. (2025) asked parents of 5- to 19-year-olds with autism if their child grinds or clenches teeth at night.
They also asked about other sleep problems and how stressed the parents feel.
What they found
About 28 % of the kids were reported to grind their teeth during sleep.
Those kids were also more likely to have breathing or wake-up problems at night.
Parents of the grinders scored higher on stress surveys than parents of non-grinders.
How this fits with other research
Ballester et al. (2019) looked at adults with autism plus intellectual disability and found they also sleep poorly, so sleep trouble spans the lifespan.
Ma et al. (2026) used sleep lab wires on younger kids and saw short REM sleep, while Victor used only parent report—different tools, same big picture of messy sleep.
Szatmari et al. (2008) showed dads of kids with autism can feel alexithymia; Victor adds that child sleep bruxism is another stress driver for parents.
Why it matters
If a parent mentions nighttime teeth grinding, you now know to screen for breathing issues, wake-ups, and caregiver stress. A quick referral to a pediatric dentist or sleep clinic can help both the child and the parent sleep better.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate associations between possible sleep bruxism (PSB) and sleep disorders in children/adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as parental perceived stress. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving children/adolescents with ASD five to 19 years of age and their parents at a public institution that supports disabled people in the city of João Pessoa in Northeast Brazil. The parents answered a form addressing sociodemographic characteristics and medical data (schooling, income, age, sex, support level and use of medications). PSB was recorded based on the reports of the parents. Parental stress was investigated using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). Sleep disorders in the children/adolescents were investigated using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC). Data analysis involved descriptive, bivariate and Poisson regression analyses (95% CI; p < 0.05). RESULTS: Fifty children/adolescents with ASD participated in the study. Boys accounted for 84.0% of the sample (n = 42). PSB in the children/adolescents was reported by 28.0% of the parents. The mean parental PSS-10 score was 20.3 ± 8.5 and the mean SDSC score was 48.8 ± 17.5. The adjusted Poisson model revealed associations between PSB and higher levels of perceived stress of the parents (PR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01-1.09), sleep breathing disorders (PR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.05-1.24) and sleep-wake transition disorders (PR = 1.16; 95%CI: 1.00-1.36; p = 0.044). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of PSB in children and adolescents with ASD was associated with higher levels of parental stress, higher scores for sleep breathing disorders and sleep-wake transition disorders.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1080/08869634.2021.1890454