Sleep Disturbances and ADHD-Related Impairments among Adolescents
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posted on 2024-07-30, 01:32authored byJamie Flannery
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by age-inappropriate symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity, is one of the most prevalent childhood disorders with rates as high as 10.9% among children and adolescents within the U.S (Li et al., 2023). Despite behavioral therapies becoming more sophisticated overtime, many youth with ADHD continue to exhibit significant functional impairments such as underperformance in school and at work, conflict with family and peers, and lower self-concept. Considering that sleep disturbances are often comorbid with ADHD and often result in similar impairments, the concomitant sleep problems may explain some of the unexplained variance left over in the association between ADHD symptoms and impairments. However, additional basic research is needed to further understand the relation between these variables, especially during adolescence when sleep problems are prominent. This study hypothesized that adolescent sleep quality was associated with ADHD-related impairments while controlling for ADHD symptoms, ADHD medication usage, gender, and age. A community sample of 243 mother-adolescent dyads from across the U.S. were recruited via Facebook ads. Mothers and adolescents completed a series of parent- and
self-report questionnaires assessing ADHD symptoms, ADHD-related impairments, and sleep quality. Utilizing structural equation modeling, multivariate models were used to examine if sleep quality was associated with ADHD-related impairments in the academic, social, work, family, life-skills, and self-care domains. Regardless of the reporter, the results of this study indicated that sleep quality was significantly associated with ADHD-related functional impairments in the academic and life skills domains. For the other domains of functioning, results varied depending on the reporter. Previous studies have shown that adolescent sleep disturbances are associated with academic underperformance and homework Problems (Cusick et al., 2018; Loram et al., 2021). This study expands upon these studies by supporting that adolescent sleep quality is also associated with other domains of functioning. This may suggest that targeting sleep may be helpful in lessen ADHD-related functional impairments in adolescents.