Ac. Marcotte et al., PARENTAL REPORT OF SLEEP PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN WITH ATTENTIONAL AND LEARNING-DISORDERS, Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics, 19(3), 1998, pp. 178-186
This study examined whether parents of children diagnosed with neurode
velopmental disorders (n = 79) report greater sleep-related problems i
n their offspring than do parents of normal community-based children (
n = 86) on a research questionnaire developed to assess sleep and brea
thing problems, sleepiness, and behavioral problems. Clinical subgroup
s included: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 43),
learning disabilities (LD) (n = 11), and combined ADHD/LD (n = 25). An
alyses revealed that parents of children with neurodevelopmental disor
ders report greater problems along all three dimensions than parents o
f normal control children. Sleep-related difficulties were reported at
the same frequency across all three clinical subgroups. No significan
t difference between clinical and control groups was noted, however, i
n the reported length of sleep on weeknights. These preliminary findin
gs suggest that sleep-related problems need to be routinely reviewed a
s part of the clinical evaluation of neurodevelopmental problems, beca
use they may contribute to and/or exacerbate the behavioral manifestat
ion of these disorders.