Sleep problems of children with autism spectrum disorder and its influencing factors

LI Zhenghua; LIANG Cailing; HE Yi; LIU Qi; WANG Ji; ZHANG Lijun

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2022-0769

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2023, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (3) : 316-321. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2022-0769

Clinical Research

Sleep problems of children with autism spectrum disorder and its influencing factors

LI Zhenghua, LIANG Cailing, HE Yi, LIU Qi, WANG Ji, ZHANG Lijun

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Abstract

Objective To analyze the sleep status and its influencing factors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in order to provide evidence for improving the sleep quality of ASD children. Method The general characteristics, sleep status and parents' mental health of 207 ASD children and 204 control children were assessed with the Sleep Habit Questionnaire (CSHQ) and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) from October 2019 to October 2020. The severity of autism symptoms was assessed with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS).The differences in the distribution of children's sleep problems and their parents' mental health status between the two groups were compared. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of sleep problems in ASD children. Results The detection rates of sleep disorders in children in ASD group and control group were 86.47% and 72.55%, respectively, with statistically significant difference (χ²=12.251, P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that children with ASD (OR=2.41), parents' total SCL-90 score (OR=1.15) and screen time＞2h/d (OR=3.07) were more likely to have sleep problems. When study population was further limited to ASD children, the results showed that ASD children whose CARS rating was severe (OR=6.81), screen time＞2h/d (OR=9.02) and whose parents were exposed to electronic screens before children went to sleep (OR=9.10) were more likely to have sleep problems. Conclusions ASD children may be more likely to experience sleep problems. The severity of autism symptoms, parents' mental health problems, daily screen time and parents' exposure to electronic screens before falling asleep are potential influencing factors for ASD children to develop sleep problems.

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autism spectrum disorder / sleep / screen time / severity of autism symptoms

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LI Zhenghua, LIANG Cailing, HE Yi, LIU Qi, WANG Ji, ZHANG Lijun. Sleep problems of children with autism spectrum disorder and its influencing factors[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2023, 31(3): 316-321 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2022-0769

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