Short Sleep Duration and Behavioral Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Healthy 7- to 8-Year-Old Children

Children's short sleep duration and sleeping difficulties increase the risk for behavioral symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and multivariate statistical models remained a statistically significant predictor of hyperactivity/impulsivity.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: It has been hypothesized that sleep deprivation may manifest in children as behavioral symptoms rather than as tiredness, but only a few studies have investigated this hypothesis. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether short sleep is associated with behavioral symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in 7- to 8-year-old children. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of children born in 1998 in Helsinki, Finland. The participants included 280 (146 girls, 134 boys) children with a mean age of 8.1 years (SD: 0.3; range: 7.4-8.8). Sleep quality was measured by using actigraphs. The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children and the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale IV were administered to parents. RESULTS: Children whose average sleep duration as measured by actigraphs was short (9.4 hours. In multivariate statistical models, short sleep duration remained a statistically significant predictor of hyperactivity/impulsivity, and sleeping difficulties were associated with hyperactivity/impulsivity, inattention, and the total score. There were no significant interactions between short sleep and sleeping difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Children's short sleep duration and sleeping difficulties increase the risk for behavioral symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.