Behavioral Sleep Interventions for Neurodivergent Youth: A Narrative Review

Sleep health in childhood is critical for growth and development, however, neurodivergent children (e.g., children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, Down syndrome) experience significantly more sleep challenges compared to their peers. Recent intervention research has begun to address specific challenges that contribute to poor sleep health for neurodivergent children. This review identifies behavioral sleep interventions published in the past 5 years that are developed for neurodivergent children and examines the impact of these interventions on sleep health.

Evidence highlights an increase in behavioral sleep intervention research targeting the sleep health of neurodivergent children. In addition to the traditional behavioral sleep intervention components, these interventions target neurodivergent-specific experiences that impact sleep difficulties like sensory processing differences, medication effects, and familial supports. Recent evidence affirms that behavioral interventions improve sleep health and positively impact daytime functioning for neurodivergent children.

Behavioral interventions developed or adapted for neurodivergent children to target specific challenges they experience have emerging efficacy. Future research should aim to increase the generalizability of the preliminary findings with larger, more diverse samples and engagement with key community members to improve implementation success.