A study looked at whether a short behavioural sleep program helped children with ADHD. It was a randomised controlled trial of 244 children aged 5 to 13 (mean age 10.1) who had ADHD and a moderate or severe sleep problem. They came from 21 paediatric practices in Victoria, Australia. Most were boys (85.3%) and most were taking ADHD medication (87.7%). The program was brief, just two sessions covering sleep habits and set behaviour strategies. Researchers compared it with usual care and followed the children for 12 months, when 183 (75%) still took part.
At 12 months, children in the program were less likely to still have a moderate or severe sleep problem, as reported by parents (28.4% versus 46.5%). Parents also reported gains in ADHD symptoms, quality of life, daily functioning, and behaviour. The effects were small (for example, daily functioning d −0.5). Teachers reported no real differences. Benefits were weaker for children not taking ADHD medication and for those whose parents had clinical depression, and parental depression strongly shaped the sleep result (AOR 5.6). All of the 12-month gains came from parent reports, which the authors say could allow bias.
Source: Sciberras E, Mulraney M, Mensah F, et al.. Sustained impact of a sleep intervention and moderators of treatment outcome for children with ADHD: a randomised controlled trial. Psychological Medicine (2019). doi:10.1017/s0033291718004063