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
. 2021 Jun;52(3):488-499.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-020-01035-z. Epub 2020 Jul 28.

Sleep Problems of Children with Autism May Independently Affect Parental Quality of Life

Ruiting Liu #  1   2 , Huixi Dong #  1   3 , Ying Wang  1 , Xiaozi Lu  4 , Yamin Li  5 , Guanglei Xun  6 , Jianjun Ou  7 , Yidong Shen  8 , Kun Xia  2 , Jingping Zhao  1
Affiliations

Sleep Problems of Children with Autism May Independently Affect Parental Quality of Life

Ruiting Liu et al. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

The current study explored how and to what extent sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) impacted their parents' quality of life (QOL). A total of 440 ASD children and 344 age-matched typically developing (TD) children were included in the case-control designed study. In the TD group, a linear regression model showed that the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) total scores were negatively associated with maternal mental health summary (MCS) scores in the SF-36v2 (β = - 2.831), while in the ASD group, the CSHQ total scores were negatively associated with the parental physical health summary (PCS) scores (β = - 3.030 for mothers, β = - 3.651 for fathers). Path analysis showed that sleep problems in ASD children had both direct and indirect effects on maternal PCS scores. The results indicated that sleep problems in children with ASD might affect parental QOL differently from TD children, and act as independent impact factors on parental physical health.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Parent; Quality of life; Sleep problem.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Lord C, Elsabbagh M, Baird G, Veenstra-Vanderweele J (2018) Autism spectrum disorder. Lancet 392:508–520 - DOI
    1. Baio J, Wiggins L, Christensen DL, Maenner MJ, Daniels J, Warren Z, Kurzius-Spencer M, Zahorodny W, Robinson RC, White T, Durkin MS, Imm P, Nikolaou L, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Lee LC, Harrington R, Lopez M, Fitzgerald RT, Hewitt A, Pettygrove S, Constantino JN, Vehorn A, Shenouda J, Hall-Lande J, Van Naarden BK, Dowling NF (2018) Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years—autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, United States, 2014. MMWR Surveill Summ 67:1–23 - DOI
    1. Wang G, Liu Z, Xu G, Jiang F, Lu N, Baylor A, Owens J (2016) Sleep disturbances and associated factors in chinese children with autism spectrum disorder: a retrospective and cross-sectional study. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 47:248–258 - DOI
    1. Souders MC, Mason TB, Valladares O, Bucan M, Levy SE, Mandell DS, Weaver TE, Pinto-Martin J (2009) Sleep behaviors and sleep quality in children with autism spectrum disorders. Sleep 32:1566–1578 - DOI
    1. Reynolds AM, Soke GN, Sabourin KR, Hepburn S, Katz T, Wiggins LD, Schieve LA, Levy SE (2019) Sleep problems in 2- to 5-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental delays. Pediatrics 143:e20180492 - DOI

Publication types