Impact of sleep disorders on behavioral issues in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Giacomo Distefano¹  Sara Calderoni²  Francesco Craig³  Marco Turi⁴  Roberta Igliozzi⁵  Angela Cosenza⁵  Fabio Apicella⁵  Raffaella Tancredi⁵  Filippo Muratori⁵  Giovanna Tritto⁶  Giuseppina Palermo⁶ 

[1] Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy;Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy;IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy;Department of Cultures, Education and Society, University of Calabria, Cosenza, Italy;Department of Human and Social Studies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy;IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy;Stella Maris Mediterraneo Foundation, Chiaromonte, Italy;

关键词: sleep disorders;    autism spectrum disorders;    preschoolers;    psychiatric comorbidities;    repetitive behaviors;    behavioral problems;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1181466

 received in 2023-03-07, accepted in 2023-04-06,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSleep disorders are one of the most common problems in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, they often tend to be underdiagnosed and incorrectly treated in clinical practice. This study aims to identify sleep disorders in preschool children with ASD and to explore their relationship with the core symptoms of autism, the child’s developmental and cognitive level as well as the psychiatric comorbidities.MethodsWe recruited 163 preschool children with a diagnosis of ASD. The Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) assessed sleep conditions. Multiple standardized tests were used to evaluate intellectual abilities, the presence of repetitive behaviors (through the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised), as well as the emotional-behavioral problems and the psychiatric comorbidities (through the Child Behavior Checklist -CBCL 11/2-5).ResultsThe results showed that poor disorders had consistently higher scores in all areas assessed by the CSHQ and on the CBCL across all domains. The correlational analysis showed that severe sleep disorders were associated with higher scores in internalizing, externalizing, and total problems at the CBCL syndromic scales, and in all DSM-oriented CBCL subscales. Moreover, we found that the association between sleep disorders and restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) is explained by the anxiety-related symptoms.ConclusionBased on these findings, the study recommends that screening for sleep problems followed by early intervention should constitute a routine part of clinical practice for children with ASD.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Distefano, Calderoni, Apicella, Cosenza, Igliozzi, Palermo, Tancredi, Tritto, Craig, Muratori and Turi.