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Nightmares in Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Their Typically

Rabya Mughal1, Siu Sing Wong1, Dagmara Dimitriou1

  • 1Sleep Education and Research Laboratory, Department of Psychology and Human Development, University College London Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AA, UK.

Clocks & Sleep
|September 25, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience more nightmares than typically developing peers. Nightmares in FASD and typically developing children are linked to anxiety, behavior, and executive function challenges.

Area of Science:

  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Sleep Science
  • Child Psychology

Background:

  • Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) exhibit higher sleep disturbance rates compared to typically developing (TD) children.
  • Pre-sleep anxiety and emotional content influence nightmare frequency and content, causing distress for children and caregivers.
  • This study is the first to investigate nightmare frequency and content in FASD and their association with psychometric outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze nightmare frequency and content in children with FASD.
  • To compare nightmare experiences across children with FASD, ASD, and TD children.
  • To assess the association between nightmares and psychometric outcomes (anxiety, behavior, executive functioning) in these groups.

Main Methods:

  • Online caregiver questionnaires were administered to 277 caregivers of children diagnosed with ASD (n=61), FASD (n=112), and TD (n=104).
  • Validated instruments included the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and Behaviour Rating Inventory for Executive Functioning (BRIEF).

Main Results:

  • Nightmare prevalence was 40.3% in ASD, 73.62% in FASD, and 21.36% in TD children.
  • Significant associations between anxiety, maladaptive behavior, executive functioning, and nightmares were found in TD and FASD groups, but not in the ASD group.

Conclusions:

  • Children with FASD experience a high frequency of nightmares, significantly more than TD peers.
  • Sleep interventions should be integrated into clinical practice for children with ASD and FASD.
  • Further research is needed to understand the complex relationship between nightmares and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Keywords:
autismdreamingfoetal alcohol spectrum disordersneurodevelopmentnightmaressleep

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