title: Sleep patterns of children with pervasive developmental disorders.
abstract: Data on sleep behavior were gathered on 100 children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), ages 2-11 years, using sleep diaries, the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), and the Parenting Events Questionnaire. Two time periods were sampled to assess short-term stability of sleep-wake patterns. Before data collection, slightly more than half of the parents, when queried, reported a sleep problem in their child. Subsequent diary and CSHQ reports confirmed more fragmented sleep in those children who were described by their parents as having a sleep problem compared to those without a designated problem. Interestingly, regardless of parental perception of problematic sleep, all children with PDD exhibited longer sleep onset times and greater fragmentation of sleep than that reported for age-matched community norms. The results demonstrate that sleep problems identified by the parent, as well as fragmentation of sleep patterns obtained from sleep diary and CSHQ data, exist in a significant proportion of children with PDD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human and Community Development, University of California at Davis, 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Honomichl
authors.forename: Beth L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Goodlin-Jones
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burnham
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gaylor
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Anders
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000150:complications*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000150:complications*; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014851:Wakefulness