Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 29;18(21):11377. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111377.
Sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, few studies have undertaken group comparisons of sleep profiles and factors associated with poorer sleep between children with ASD without intellectual disability (ID; hereafter referred to as ASD) and ASD with co-occurring ID (hereafter referred to as ASD + ID). This study aimed to (1) compare child (sleep problems and emotional and behavioural problems (EBPs)) and parent factors (parenting stress and mental health) for children with ASD compared to children with ASD + ID, and (2) examine the associations between sleep problems and child and parent factors in both groups. Parents of 56 children with ASD (22 ASD, 34 ASD + ID) aged 6-13 years took part in the study. No statistically significant differences in sleep problems were found between children with ASD compared to children with ASD + ID. However, total EBPs were independently associated with child sleep problems in both groups. Further, 'Self-Absorbed' and 'Communication Disturbance' EBPs were significantly greater in the ASD + ID compared to the ASD group. Overall treatment outcomes for children with ASD may be further improved if consideration is given to the specific types of EBPs being experienced by the child and their association with sleep problems.
睡眠问题在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童中很常见。然而，很少有研究对无智力障碍（ID；以下简称 ASD）和伴有 ID 的 ASD（以下简称 ASD + ID）儿童的睡眠状况和与较差睡眠相关的因素进行组间比较。本研究旨在：（1）比较 ASD 儿童与 ASD + ID 儿童的儿童（睡眠问题和情绪与行为问题（EBP））和家长因素（育儿压力和心理健康），以及（2）检查两组中睡眠问题与儿童和家长因素之间的关联。共有 56 名 6-13 岁的 ASD 儿童（22 名 ASD，34 名 ASD + ID）的家长参与了研究。ASD 儿童与 ASD + ID 儿童之间的睡眠问题没有统计学上的显著差异。然而，两组儿童的总 EBP 均与儿童睡眠问题独立相关。此外，“自我中心”和“沟通障碍”EBP 在 ASD + ID 组中显著高于 ASD 组。如果考虑到儿童所经历的特定类型的 EBP 及其与睡眠问题的关联，那么 ASD 儿童的整体治疗效果可能会进一步提高。
