An eHealth insomnia intervention for children with neurodevelopmental disorders: Results of a usability study.
An online parent-led sleep program is usable for kids with NDD—minor tweaks can make it ready for broader rollout.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked parents to test an online sleep program called Better Nights, Better Days.
All children had a neurodevelopmental disorder such as autism or ADHD.
Parents worked through the lessons at home and then told the researchers what felt easy, hard, or missing.
What they found
Parents said the site was simple to use and the tips made sense.
They wanted small fixes, like shorter videos and clearer bedtime charts.
With those tweaks, the program looked ready for a bigger rollout.
How this fits with other research
Delemere et al. (2017) already showed moms and dads can run bedtime fading at home and gain extra sleep minutes.
The new study keeps the parent-power idea but moves the coach online, matching the positive online results Pitchford et al. (2019) found when they compared screen versus in-person parent training.
Vassos et al. (2023) later asked parents to simply imagine the same BNBD course and still called it acceptable, proving the 2020 tweaks were on the right track.
Woodford et al. (2024) add a caution: start with gentle fixes first and save strict extinction for later, a rule the BNBD lessons already follow.
Why it matters
You now have an evidence-based sleep curriculum that families can open on a phone.
Offer it as a first-step before referring to costly clinics.
Tell parents to note any unclear pages so you can keep refining the course.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Sleep problems, particularly insomnia, are highly prevalent in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and can negatively affect health and development. eHealth interventions may increase access to evidence-based care for insomnia for children with NDD, as programs are rare in most communities. Better Nights, Better Days (BNBD) is an online, parent-implemented intervention for pediatric insomnia in typically developing 1- to 10-year-olds. AIMS: The present study examined whether parents of children with NDD perceived the original BNBD to be usable, acceptable, and feasible, and what modifications might be necessary to adapt it for children with NDD. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Twenty Canadian parents/caregivers of children aged 4-10 years with NDD and insomnia implemented the BNBD intervention with their children, and completed usability questionnaires. Questionnaire data were analyzed quantitatively (descriptive statistics) and qualitatively (thematic analysis). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Participants reported the intervention to be usable, useful, acceptable, and feasible. Several modifications were suggested to make the intervention more appropriate and acceptable for use with children with NDD. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Results support a largely transdiagnostic approach to treating sleep in children with NDD, and will inform the development of BNBD for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders (BNBD-NDD).
Research in developmental disabilities, 2020 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103573