Sleep Extension and Behavior of Young Children

Effects of Sleep Extension on Sleep Physiology and Behavior of Young Children

This pseudo-randomized intervention study examined change in inhibitory control following a sleep manipulation in which children with and without ADHD were instructed to advance their bedtime by 90 minutes for five days.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a sleep extension intervention in young children with ADHD and determine whether sleep extension improves inhibitory control, a primary deficit in ADHD.

Design: Children with and without ADHD completed two 5-day assessments: a baseline condition in which children followed their normal bedtime routine and a sleep extension condition in which children were instructed to go to bed 90 minutes earlier than their habitual bedtime. Sleep was assessed with actigraphy and, on the final night, polysomnography. A Go/No-Go task was used to assess inhibitory control.

Setting: Participants slept in their home on nights 1-4 and in the sleep laboratory on night 5 of each condition.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Of interest is actigraph measurement of total sleep time for the baseline compared to the sleep extension condition. Polysomnography will be used to compared changes in sleep physiology. The primary behavioral outcome is inhibitory control, indexed by accuracy on No-Go trials in the Go/No-Go task.

Inclusion Criteria:

• A subset of children were required to have an ADHD diagnosis

Exclusion Criteria:

• diagnosis of intellectual disabilities or developmental delay
• current diagnosis of history of sleep disorder
• uncorrected hearing or visual impairments