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Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
10:02

Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Published on: March 12, 2020

Sleep and sleepiness in children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder and controls

Sabrina Wiebe1, Julie Carrier, Sonia Frenette

  • 1Attention, Behavior and Sleep Lab, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.

Journal of Sleep Research
|July 6, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Children with ADHD and typically developing children show different sleep patterns. Sleep issues in children with ADHD may affect both nighttime and daytime sleep, impacting overall sleep quality.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Behavioral Sleep Medicine

Background:

  • Daytime sleepiness is a common concern in children.
  • Understanding the relationship between habitual sleep and objective sleep measures is crucial for diagnosing sleep disturbances.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between habitual sleep patterns, polysomnography (PSG)-measured sleep, and daytime sleepiness in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and typically developing children.
  • To explore differences in sleep patterns and their correlation with daytime sleepiness between these two groups.

Main Methods:

  • Eighty-two children (7–11 years; 26 ADHD, 56 typically developing) underwent 5 nights of actigraphy for habitual sleep and 1 night of polysomnography (PSG) at home.
  • Daytime sleepiness was assessed using the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) in a laboratory setting.
  • Spearman correlations analyzed relationships between MSLT, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, PSG, and actigraphy sleep measures.

Main Results:

  • In typically developing children, longer sleep latency on PSG and actigraphy correlated with longer MSLT sleep latencies.
  • In children with ADHD, actigraphy measures of sleep restlessness and time in slow-wave sleep positively related to MSLT sleep latencies.
  • A differential relationship between habitual/immediate sleep patterns and daytime sleepiness was observed between the groups.

Conclusions:

  • Children with ADHD exhibit distinct sleep patterns compared to typically developing children concerning daytime sleepiness.
  • Sleep initiation and maintenance problems may be present in children with ADHD during both nighttime and daytime.
  • Further research into tailored sleep interventions for children with ADHD is warranted.

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