Abstract
Little is known about the role of family characteristics in sleep disturbance for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study involved an exploratory analysis of the association between 17 child, parent, and socioeconomic characteristics and sleep disturbance using data from 203, 2–18-year-old children with ASD whose families participated in the Western Australian Autism Biological Registry. Results suggest that greater ASD symptom severity; child seizures; maternal autism traits, anxiety, and depression; lower paternal education; and lower family income were related to increased sleep disturbance. All these characteristics, aside from maternal depression, were significant predictors within a regression model, which accounted for 33% of the total variance. Thus, child characteristics alone may not adequately explain sleep disturbance in children with ASD.
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Andrew Whitehouse is supported by a Senior Research Fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council (1077966).
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HW assisted with study design and methodology, conducted the data analysis, and wrote the draft of the paper. LM provided specialist knowledge of sleep research, assisted with the methodology and provided edits on the manuscript. LW assisted with the methodology and data analysis and provided edits to the methods and results. AJOW led the collection of data, assisted with the study design and methodology, and provided edits on the manuscript.
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Waddington, H., McLay, L., Woods, L. et al. Child and Family Characteristics Associated with Sleep Disturbance in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 4121–4132 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04475-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04475-7