Impact of a behavioral intervention, delivered by pediatricians or psychologists, on sleep problems in children with ADHD: a cluster-randomized, translational trial

The management of sleep disturbances in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): an update of the literature

INTRODUCTION

Sleep disorders represent an important comorbidity in individuals with ADHD. While the links between ADHD and sleep disturbances have been extensively investigated, research on the management of sleep disorders in individuals with ADHD is relatively limited, albeit expanding.

AREAS COVERED

The authors searched PubMed, Medline, PsycInfo, Embase+Embase Classic, Web of Sciences databases, and clinicaltrials.gov up to 4 January 2024, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of any intervention for sleep disorders associated with ADHD. They retained 16 RCTs (eight on pharmacological and eight on non-pharmacological interventions), supporting behavioral intervention and melatonin, and nine ongoing RCTs registered on clinicaltrials.gov.

EXPERT OPINION

The pool of RCTs testing interventions for sleep disorders in individuals with ADHD is expanding. However, to inform clinical guidelines, there is a need for additional research in several areas, including 1) RCTs based on a precise phenotyping of sleep disorders; 2) pragmatic RCTs recruiting neurodevelopmental populations representative of those seen in clinical services; 3) trials testing alternative interventions (e.g. suvorexant or light therapy) or ways to deliver them (e.g. online); 4) sequential and longer-term RCTs; 5) studies testing the impact of sleep interventions on outcomes other than sleep; 6) and implementation of advanced evidence synthesis and precision medicine approaches.

An Open-Label Pilot Trial of a Brief, Parent-Based Sleep Intervention in Children With ADHD

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effects of a brief parent-based behavioral sleep intervention in children with ADHD.

METHODS

Families with a child with ADHD and parent-reported sleep problems received a brief parent-based sleep intervention, which involved two one-to-one consultation sessions and one telephone follow-up with the parent/caregiver. Child's sleep and clinical symptoms, and parental sleep and daytime functioning were assessed at baseline, 2-week post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Sixty eligible families (mean age of the child: 9.4 ± 1.5 years; boys: 75%) were recruited, and 43 (72%) completed the whole intervention. The intervention resulted in significant improvements in the child's sleep, clinical symptoms, and parental sleep and parenting stress, and these improvements were generally maintained at 3-month follow-up.

CONCLUSION

The findings supported the promising effects of a brief parent-based sleep intervention on improving sleep and clinical symptoms in children with ADHD and parental sleep and parenting stress. Further randomized clinical trials with long-term follow-up are needed to test the robustness of the effectiveness of the intervention.

A randomized controlled trial of effects of sleep hygiene training and progressive muscle relaxation training in children with ADHD

OBJECT

Sleep problems often accompany ADHD and negatively affect ADHD symptoms, however, there are not enough intervention studies on sleep interventions in children with ADHD. The present study investigated the effects of sleep hygiene training (SH) and progressive muscle relaxation exercises (PMR) in children with ADHD.

METHOD

57 children aged 6-12 years with ADHD were randomly assigned to the SH and SH + PMR groups and completed the intervention consisting of group training and eight weeks of telephone interviews. The effects of both intervenitons were evaluated via parent, child and clinician report scales and neuropsychological tests.

RESULTS

Both interventions resulted in significant positive changes in child sleep, ADHD symptoms, functioning, neuropsychological tests and parental sleep quality. Significant differences were found between the interventions in selective attention, peer problems and anxiety scores in favor of the SH + PMR group.

CONCLUSION

SH may have positive effects on various clinical parameters as well as sleep problems in children with ADHD. Addition of PMR to SH may lead to further improvements in anxiety, peer problems and selective attention. SH and PMR may be a useful tool in the clinical management of children with ADHD with sleep problems.

Disseminating sleep education to graduate psychology programs online: a knowledge translation study to improve the management of insomnia

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Despite the negative impact of poor sleep on mental health, evidence-based insomnia management guidelines have not been translated into routine mental healthcare. Here, we evaluate a state-wide knowledge translation effort to disseminate sleep and insomnia education to graduate psychology programs online using the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) evaluation framework.

METHODS

Using a non-randomized waitlist control design, graduate psychology students attended a validated 6-hour online sleep education workshop delivered live as part of their graduate psychology program in Victoria, Australia. Sleep knowledge, attitudes, and practice assessments were conducted pre- and post-program, with long-term feedback collected at 12 months.

RESULTS

Seven out of ten graduate psychology programs adopted the workshop (adoption rate = 70%). The workshop reached 313 graduate students, with a research participation rate of 81%. The workshop was effective at improving students' sleep knowledge and self-efficacy to manage sleep disturbances using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), compared to the waitlist control with medium-to-large effect sizes (all p < .001). Implementation feedback was positive, with 96% of students rating the workshop as very good-to-excellent. Twelve-month maintenance data demonstrated that 83% of students had used the sleep knowledge/skills learned in the workshop in their clinical practice. However, more practical training is required to achieve CBT-I competency.

CONCLUSIONS

Online sleep education workshops can be scaled to deliver cost-effective foundational sleep training to graduate psychology students. This workshop will accelerate the translation of insomnia management guidelines into psychology practice to improve sleep and mental health outcomes nationwide.

Variation in sleep profiles in children with ADHD and associated clinical characteristics

BACKGROUND

Sleep difficulties are common in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, sleep problems are multifaceted and little is known about the variation in sleep difficulties across children with ADHD. We examined the profiles of sleep difficulties in children with ADHD and associated clinical factors (e.g. co-occurring mental health conditions, stimulant use and parent mental health).

METHODS

Data from two harmonised studies of children with ADHD (total: N = 392, ages 5-13 years) were used. Parents completed measures of children's sleep, co-occurring mental health conditions and their own mental health. Both parents and teachers completed measures of child ADHD symptoms and emotional and conduct symptoms. Latent profile analysis was used to identify sleep profiles, and multinomial logistic regression assessed clinical correlates of the groups.

RESULTS

Five sleep profiles were identified: (a) insomnia/delayed sleep phase (36%), (b) generalised sleep difficulties at sleep onset and overnight (25%), (c) high anxious/bedtime resistance difficulties (11%), (d) overnight sleep difficulties including obstructive sleep apnoea and parasomnias (5%) and (e) no sleep difficulties (22%). Compared with the group without sleep difficulties, the generalised, anxious/bedtime resistance and insomnia/delayed sleep phase sleep had greater parent-reported emotional and conduct symptoms, co-occurring anxiety and increased parent mental health difficulties. The generalised and anxious/bedtime resistance groups also had greater parent-reported ADHD symptoms, with the anxious/bedtime resistance sleep group also having more frequent co-occurring depression and teacher-reported emotional symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The sleep difficulties experienced by children with ADHD are varied. Supports to help children with ADHD need to consider the particular profiles of sleep difficulties experienced and broader clinical characteristics. Tailored intervention approaches are likely needed (including a need to address parent mental health).

Bridging the gap: leveraging implementation science to advance pediatric behavioral sleep interventions

STUDY OBJECTIVES

This review synthesizes the pediatric behavioral sleep intervention (BSI) evidence base, summarizes challenges in translating BSIs from research to practice, and provides recommendations for integrating implementation science methods to advance pediatric BSI research.

METHODS

We briefly review the common behavioral sleep disturbances among youth, discuss the pediatric BSIs with well-established evidence, and identify gaps in pediatric BSI research. We then identify contributors to the dearth of research evaluating pediatric BSIs in accessible settings and present a model for applying implementation science strategies to address identified gaps across the continuum of translational research.

RESULTS

Relatively few BSI trials include older children and adolescents. Similarly, there is limited research evaluating BSIs among racially and ethnically minoritized children and families and/or those of lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. Access to scalable and easily disseminable tools to treat pediatric sleep disturbances early in their development is crucial for promoting positive child outcomes. To address these gaps, researchers should apply implementation science theories, models, and frameworks to design new interventions for implementation, adapt existing interventions with end users and settings in mind, conduct hybrid effectiveness-implementation trials, and test implementation strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the prevalence and consequences of poor sleep across developmental periods, pediatric BSIs must be effective as well as adaptable, scalable, and easily disseminable. Implementation science theories, models, and frameworks can enhance access to, engagement in, and the implementation and dissemination of scalable BSIs across diverse pediatric care settings and heterogeneous populations.

CITATION

Levenson JC, Williamson AA. Bridging the gap: leveraging implementation science to advance pediatric behavioral sleep interventions. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(7):1321-1336.

Sleep IntervEntion as Symptom Treatment for ADHD (SIESTA)-Blended CBT sleep intervention to improve sleep, ADHD symptoms and related problems in adolescents with ADHD: Protocol for a randomised controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience a more disrupted sleep and more sleep problems compared with typically developing adolescents. This is particularly concerning, because disrupted sleep is related to worsened clinical, neurocognitive and functional outcomes and leads to increased ADHD symptom impairment. Due to the specific difficulties adolescents with ADHD experience, a tailored sleep treatment is needed. Therefore, our lab developed a cognitive behavioural treatment-Sleep IntervEntion as Sympom Treatment for ADHD (SIESTA)-that integrates sleep training with motivational interviewing, and planning/organisational skills training with the aim of improving sleep problems in adolescents with ADHD.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A randomised, controlled, investigator-blinded monocentre trial is used to test whether SIESTA in combination with treatment as usual (TAU) for ADHD results in greater improvement in sleep problems than TAU only. Adolescents (aged 13-17 years) with ADHD and sleep problems are included. They complete measurements before treatment (pre-test), approximately 7 weeks after the pre-test (post-test), and approximately 3 months after the post-test (follow-up). The assessment includes questionnaires filled out by adolescents, parents and teachers. Additionally, sleep is assessed by actigraphy and sleep diaries at all time-points. Primary outcomes include objectively and subjectively measured sleep architecture (specified as total sleep time, sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency and number of awakenings), subjectively measured sleep problems and sleep hygiene. Secondary outcomes include ADHD symptoms, comorbidities and functional outcomes. To analyse the data, a linear mixed effects model will be used with an intent-to-treat approach.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study activities, informed consent and assent forms have been approved by the Ethical Committee Research UZ/KU Leuven (study ID S64197). If proven effective, the intervention will be implemented throughout Flanders. Therefore, an advisory board consisting of societal partners in healthcare is appointed at the start of the project, giving advice throughout the project and assistance with implementation afterwards.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT04723719.

Sleep interventions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A systematic literature review

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND

Healthy sleep is particularly important for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as sleep disturbances might aggravate disease symptoms. This review aims to synthesize and report evidence on the effectiveness of sleep interventions in increasing sleep, quality of life (QoL), and ADHD symptoms among children with ADHD.

PATIENTS/METHODS

The systematic literature review follows the Cochrane Collaboration methodology recommendations for literature reviews. Four databases were used based on the population, intervention, control and outcome (PICO) framework. Controlled trials with minimum 20 children in each group, aged 6-18, and published from 2005 and onwards were included. Results from the studies were reported in forest plots and three of the seven review outcomes were synthesized in meta-analyses.

RESULTS

The search identified 7710 records; of which 4808 abstracts were screened. After fulltext-screening of 99 papers, eight papers from five studies were included. The studies included behavioral sleep interventions and pharmacological interventions using melatonin and eszopiclone. For six of the seven outcomes, the effect sizes were small to moderate and the certainty of the evidence was low. For one outcome, sleep disturbances, the effect size was a moderate -0.49 standardized mean differences (95% confidence interval -0.65;-0.33), with a moderate certainty of evidence for the behavioral interventions for children aged 5-13 years with ADHD.

CONCLUSIONS

This review identified few and heterogeneous studies. A moderate certainty of evidence for a moderate effect size was only obtained for sleep disturbances from the behavioral interventions. A low certainty of the evidence for a moderate effect size was found for the total sleep time from the pharmacological intervention using melatonin and one behavioral intervention, which indicates that these sleep interventions impact sleep quantity and quality among children with ADHD.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Medications and Sleep

Sleep problems are common and often increase when initiating pharmacotherapy for ADHD. Stimulants are commonly associated with delayed sleep onset/insomnia although nonstimulants can be associated with daytime sleepiness. There is a wide variability in severity and duration of sleep effects, but most effects are mild and improve over time. Although sleep problems occur in all age groups, preschoolers and adolescents appear to be more vulnerable to adverse effects on sleep than adults and children. Interventions to improve sleep include behavioral therapy, changing dose schedules or formulations, and adding a sleep-promoting agent such as melatonin.

Scoping review of costs of implementation strategies in community, public health and healthcare settings

OBJECTIVES

To identify existing evidence concerning the cost of dissemination and implementation (D&I) strategies in community, public health and health service research, mapped with the 'Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change' (ERIC) taxonomy.

DESIGN

Scoping review.

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify any English language reports that had been published between January 2008 and December 2019 concerning the cost of D&I strategies.

DATA EXTRACTION

We matched the strategies identified in each article using ERIC taxonomies; further classified them into five areas (eg, dissemination, implementation, integration, capacity building and scale-up); and extracted the corresponding costs (total costs and cots per action target and per evidence-based programme (EBP) participant). We also recorded the reported level of costing methodology used for cost assessment of D&I strategies.

RESULTS

Of the 6445 articles identified, 52 studies were eligible for data extraction. Lack of D&I strategy cost data was the predominant reason (55% of the excluded studies) for study exclusion. Predominant topic, setting, country and research design in the included studies were mental health (19%), primary care settings (44%), the US (35%) and observational (42%). Thirty-five (67%) studies used multicomponent D&I strategies (ranging from two to five discrete strategies). The most frequently applied strategies were Conduct ongoing training (50%) and Conduct educational meetings (23%). Adoption (42%) and reach (27%) were the two most frequently assessed outcomes. The overall costs of Conduct ongoing training ranged from $199 to $105 772 ($1-$13 973 per action target and $0.02-$412 per EBP participant); whereas the cost of Conduct educational meetings ranged from $987 to $1.1-$2.9 million/year ($33-$54 869 per action target and $0.2-$146 per EBP participant). The wide range of costs was due to the varying scales of the studies, intended audiences/diseases and the complexities of the strategy components. Most studies presented limited information on costing methodology, making interpretation difficult.

CONCLUSIONS

The quantity of published D&I strategy cost analyses is increasing, yet guidance on conducting and reporting of D&I strategy cost analysis is necessary to facilitate and promote the application of comparative economic evaluation in the field of D&I research.

Impact of a Behavioral Sleep Intervention in Adolescents With ADHD: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effectiveness From a Pilot Open Trial

OBJECTIVE

An open trial tested the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of a behavioral sleep intervention in adolescents with ADHD.

METHOD

Fourteen adolescents (ages 13-17 years; 50% male) with ADHD and co-occurring sleep problems received the cognitive-behavioral-based Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention for Youth (TranS-C). Adolescent, parent, and teacher ratings, actigraphy, and daily sleep diaries were collected at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Adolescents experienced moderate to large improvements in sleep, mental health symptoms, and daily life executive functioning from pre-treatment to post-treatment, and improvements were generally maintained at 3 months. Pre-intervention, 71.4% of adolescents were classified as poor sleepers and this was reduced to 21.4% and 28.6% at post-treatment and follow-up, respectively.

CONCLUSION

This study provides strong preliminary evidence that TranS-C improves sleep and associated outcomes in adolescents with ADHD and co-occurring sleep problems. A randomized controlled trial is needed to rigorously test the efficacy of TranS-C in this population.

Sleep in Individuals with ADHD: Prevalence, Impacts, Causes, and Treatments

Sleep problems are common in children and adolescents with ADHD. This chapter covers the basics of sleep and the prevalence and types of sleep problems experienced by children and adolescents with ADHD. The impacts of sleep problems on the day-to-day lives of children with ADHD and their families are covered including impacts on child daily functioning and cognition, as well as family well-being. There is no one cause of sleep problems in children with ADHD with both biological and environmental factors implicated. There are a small number of randomized controlled trials that support the efficacy of treating sleep problems in children with ADHD using behavioral strategies. A small number of studies also have found improvements in sleep onset delay in children with ADHD following treatment with melatonin. Little is known about how to best support adolescents and adults with ADHD with sleep, although a small emerging literature largely in adults with ADHD suggests that bright light therapies could potentially be helpful given the extent of circadian involvement in the sleep problems experienced by individuals with ADHD. This chapter ends with consideration of future research directions largely related to approaches to supporting individuals with ADHD and sleep difficulties.

A brief clinician training program to manage sleep problems in ADHD: what works and what do clinicians and parents think?

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND

Brief behavioural sleep interventions have been shown to be effective in treating sleep problems in children with ADHD. Little research, however, has focused on the translational aspects of these programs from the consumer perspective. This study aimed to explore clinician and parent views of a brief training program in managing sleep problems in children with ADHD.

PARTICIPANTS

Fifty-nine community-based clinicians (32 paediatricians, 27 psychologists) were trained to deliver a brief behavioural sleep intervention as part of the Sleeping Sound with ADHD translational trial; 183 families were allocated to receive the sleep intervention and 115 provided follow-up data.

METHODS

Clinicians reported on competency, confidence and perceived barriers pre- and post-training. Parents reported on usefulness of the program and frequency of sleep strategy use at 3 months post-randomisation. Parent-report of severity of the child sleep problem was also measured at 3 and 6 months post-randomisation.

RESULTS

Clinicians' feelings of competency and confidence in managing sleep difficulties increased from pre-to post-training, while perceptions of barriers decreased. Parent-reported usefulness of the program and frequency of sleep use varied by program domain and sleep strategy. Increased parent-reported use of sleep strategies was associated with improved sleep at 3 and 6 months post-randomisation.

CONCLUSIONS

A brief sleep training program leads to improvements in clinician confidence and competence in managing sleep problems in children with ADHD and positive parent perspectives. The findings highlight the potential for the Sleeping Sound with ADHD program to be optimized to better help parents in their implementation of sleep strategies.

Overlapping sleep disturbances in persistent tic disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of polysomnographic findings

INTRODUCTION

Persistent tic disorders (PTDs) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are common neurodevelopmental conditions which tend to co-occur. Both diagnoses are associated with sleep problems. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates overlaps and distinctions in objective sleep parameters based on diagnosis (PTD-only, PTD + ADHD, and ADHD-only).

METHODS

Databases were searched to identify studies with objective sleep measures in each population. Meta-analyses were conducted using a random effects model.

RESULTS

Polysomnography was the only measure included in all three groups. Twenty studies met final inclusion criteria, combining PTD-only (N = 108), PTD + ADHD (N = 79), and ADHD-only (N = 316). Compared to controls (N = 336), PTD-only and PTD + ADHD groups had significantly lower sleep efficiency and higher sleep onset latency. PTD + ADHD also had significantly increased time in bed and total sleep time. No significant differences were observed between ADHD-only groups and controls.

DISCUSSION

Different sleep profiles appear to characterise each population. PTD + ADHD was associated with more pronounced differences. Further research is required to elucidate disorder-specific sleep problems, ensuring appropriate identification and monitoring of sleep in clinical settings.

Evidence Base Update on Assessing Sleep in Youth

BACKGROUND

Sleep is vital to youth well-being and when it becomes disturbed - whether due to environmental or individual factors - mental and physical health suffer. Sleep problems can also be a symptom of underlying mental health disorders. Assessing different components of sleep, including quality and hygiene, can be useful both for identifying mental health problems and for measuring changes in well-being over time. However, there are dozens of sleep-related measures for youth and it can be difficult to determine which to select for a specific research or clinical purpose. The goal of this review was to identify sleep-related measures for clinical and/or research use in youth mental health settings, and to update the evidence base on this topic.

METHOD

We generated a list of candidate measures based on other reviews and searched in PubMed and PsycINFO using the terms "sleep" AND (measure OR assessment OR questionnaire) AND (psychometric OR reliability OR validity). Search results were limited to studies about children and adolescents (aged 2-17) published in English. Additional criteria for inclusion were that there had to be at least three publications reporting on the measure psychometrics in community or mental health populations. Sleep measures meeting these criteria were evaluated using the criteria set by De Los Reyes and Langer (2018).

RESULTS

Twenty-six measures, across four domains of sleep - insomnia, sleep hygiene, sleepiness, sleep quality - met inclusion criteria. Each measure had at least adequate clinical utility. No measure(s) emerged as superior across psychometric domains.

CONCLUSION

Clinicians and researchers must evaluate sleep measures for each use case, as the intended purpose will dictate which measure is best. Future research is necessary to evaluate measure performance in transdiagnostic mental health populations, including youth with serious mental illness.

Impact of sleep restriction on affective functioning in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

BACKGROUND

Shortened sleep and affective disturbances are both prevalent in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet the causal link between these domains has not been examined. This study investigated whether shortened sleep duration is causally linked to affective functioning in adolescents with ADHD.

METHODS

Participants were 48 adolescents (75% male) aged 14-17 years with ADHD who successfully completed a three-week sleep protocol using an experimental crossover design. The protocol included a phase stabilization week, followed, in randomized counterbalanced order, by one week of sleep restriction (6.5 hr in bed) and one week of sleep extension (9.5 hr in bed). Sleep was monitored with objective actigraphy, and all participants included in this study obtained ≥1 hr actigraphy-measured sleep duration during extension compared to restriction. Parents and adolescents provided daily ratings of positive and negative affect during the extension and restriction conditions. Ratings of affect, internalizing symptoms, and emotion regulation were collected at laboratory visits conducted at the end of each week.

RESULTS

Both parents and adolescents reported greater depressive symptoms and lower positive affect during restriction compared to extension. Parents also reported greater negative affect and emotion dysregulation among adolescents during sleep restriction than extension. No effects were found for parent- or adolescent-reported anxiety symptoms or for adolescent-reported emotion regulation or negative affect.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this study provide the first evidence that shortened sleep duration is a causal contributor to the affect and mood disturbances frequently experienced by adolescents with ADHD, particularly as observed by parents. Targeting sleep may be important to reduce affective disturbances in adolescents with ADHD.

The Effects of Extended-Release Stimulant Medication on Sleep in Children with ADHD

OBJECTIVE

Although stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate hydrochloride (MPH), are effective at reducing the core symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), they may also disrupt children's sleep. This study aimed to investigate the acute impact of extended-release MPH on sleep using both actigraphy and polysomnography (PSG).

METHOD

Participants were 26 medication-naïve newly and rigorously diagnosed children with ADHD (23 males; 3 females) with a mean age of 8 years, 8 months (SD = 24.5mos) who were enrolled in a clinically-administered crossover medication trial with 2 conditions: 2 weeks of placebo and 2 weeks of MPH treatment. The effect of condition on sleep variables as measured by actigraphy (primary outcome) and PSG (secondary outcome) was analyzed using repeated measures MANOVAs.

RESULTS

Based on actigraphy data, total sleep time was significantly reduced by 30 minutes and sleep onset latency was significantly increased by 30 minutes in the MPH condition compared to the placebo condition (p<0.001). No differences were found in sleep efficiency. No statistically significant differences were found for the same variables assessed by PSG; however, the means were in the same direction as the actigraphy data. There was a significant increase in the relative percentage of stage N3 sleep by 3.2% during MPH treatment (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Increased sleep onset latency resulting in reduced total sleep time, which has been linked to poorer daytime functioning, is a potential adverse effect of stimulant medication which may require management to optimize outcome.

Evening circadian preference is associated with sleep problems and daytime sleepiness in adolescents with ADHD

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by disruptions in sleep and changes in circadian preferences. Although adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at even higher risk of sleep disruption than their peers, no study has examined whether circadian preference is associated with sleep problems and daytime sleepiness in adolescents with ADHD. This study provides an initial test of the hypothesis that greater evening preference would be associated with more sleep problems and daytime sleepiness in adolescents diagnosed with ADHD. Participants were 80 adolescents (69% male), aged 13-17 years, with ADHD. Adolescents completed measures assessing circadian preference, pubertal development, anxiety/depressive symptoms and weeknight sleep duration. Both adolescents and parents completed measures of sleep problems and daytime sleepiness. In regression analyses controlling for a number of other variables (i.e., age, sex, pubertal development, ADHD medication use, and ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder and internalizing symptom severity), greater evening preference was associated with both adolescent- and parent-reported sleep problems and daytime sleepiness. Greater evening preference remained significantly associated with each of these sleep problems and daytime sleepiness when also controlling for weeknight sleep duration. This is the first study to demonstrate that evening circadian preference is associated with both sleep problems and daytime sleepiness in adolescents with ADHD. The results indicate that it is important to consider circadian function as research examining sleep in adolescents with ADHD continues to advance.

ADHD and sleep: recent advances and future directions

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently have sleep disturbances, daytime sleepiness, and/or circadian rhythm abnormalities. This article reviews recent advancements and key future directions: examining group differences across the life span, advancing a developmental psychopathology perspective, moving from correlation to causation, conceptualizing ADHD as a 24-hour disorder, understanding sleep in relation to other health behaviors, and evaluating sleep in interventions for individuals with ADHD. This is an exciting time in the empirical study and clinical care of sleep disturbances and circadian rhythm alterations in individuals with ADHD. As research continues to advance, studies are increasingly using large samples and longitudinal/experimental research designs to test hypotheses that will ultimately allow for a more robust and sophisticated understanding of sleep and ADHD.