Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Nov;48(11):3871-3884.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3648-0.

Sleep and Challenging Behaviors in the Context of Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism

Emily A Abel  1 , A J Schwichtenberg  2 , Matthew T Brodhead  3   4 , Sharon L Christ  2
Affiliations

Sleep and Challenging Behaviors in the Context of Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism

Emily A Abel et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Nov.

Abstract

This study examined the associations between sleep and challenging behaviors for average and night-to-night fluctuations in sleep, in 39 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) receiving intensive behavioral intervention (IBI). Child sleep was recorded (via actigraphy) for five nights in conjunction with clinician-reported observations of challenging behaviors. Results indicated that on average, poor sleep was associated with higher rates of repetitive behavior, negative affect, and a composite of overall challenging behaviors. These findings suggest that average sleep patterns are important within the context of IBI (rather than night-to-night fluctuations). Interventions aimed at improving overall patterns of sleep may have important cascading effects on challenging behaviors and developmental outcomes for children with ASD and their families.

Keywords: Actigraphy; Autism spectrum disorder; Challenging behavior; Repetitive behavior; Sleep.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest The authors report no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Aathira R, Chakrabarty B, Dang N, Gulati S, Gupta A, Kabra M, Pandey RM, Sapra S, Shukla G, & Tripathi M (2017). Prevalence of sleep abnormalities in indian children with autism spectrum disorder: A cross-sectional Study. Pediatric Neurology, 74, 62–67. doi:10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2017.05.019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adams HL, Matson JL, & Jang J (2014). The relationship between sleep problems and challenging behavior among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 8(9), 1024–1030.
    1. Aeschbach D, Postolache TT, Sher L, Matthews JR, Jackson MA, & Wehr TA (2001). Evidence from the waking electroencephalogram that short sleepers live under higher homeostatic sleep pressure than long sleepers. Neuroscience, 102, 493–502. - PubMed
    1. Allik H, Larrson JO, Smedje H (2006). Sleep patterns in children with Asperger Syndrome or high–functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 585–595. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0099-9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.