Early Sleep Differences in Young Infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Miranda Foster1, Alexis Federico1, Cheryl Klaiman2,3

  • 1College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.

Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics : JDBP
|August 9, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) sleep less in the first six months. However, more nighttime sleep at six months predicted better language and motor skills at 24 months.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience sleep disturbances.
  • Sleep patterns in infants who later receive an ASD diagnosis are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sleep duration and nighttime sleep proportion in infants during the first six months of life.
  • To compare sleep patterns among infants later diagnosed with ASD, those with the broad autism phenotype (BAP), and typically developing (TD) peers.
  • To explore the association between infant sleep variables and developmental outcomes at 24 months.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective, longitudinal study of 79 infants.
  • Monthly 24-hour sleep logs collected from 1 week to 6 months of age.
  • Comprehensive diagnostic evaluations at 24 months, including ASD diagnosis, BAP classification, or TD status.

Main Results:

  • Infants later diagnosed with ASD had significantly shorter total sleep duration from 0-6 months compared to TD and BAP infants (p=0.04).
  • No significant differences in the percentage of nighttime sleep were observed between groups.
  • A higher percentage of nighttime sleep at 6 months correlated with enhanced receptive language (p<0.001) and fine motor skills (p<0.0001) at 24 months.

Conclusions:

  • Sleep differences may emerge earlier in life for individuals with ASD than previously thought.
  • Early sleep patterns, particularly nighttime sleep, may influence later developmental trajectories.
  • These findings highlight the potential impact of early sleep on neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Abstract

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