Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Alder_Dissertation_Final.pdf (2.14 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Sleep in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Alder, Megan Lynn
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1619540173790598

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Nursing.
Background: Nearly 50-86% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have sleep disturbances, 64-93% experience disruptive behaviors, and 63% do not meet the recommended moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels. MVPA improves sleep in children with ASD, which can mitigate challenging behaviors. With poor sleep and challenging behaviors, parental stress significantly increases thereby influencing the child with ASD and caregiver’s quality of life. Purpose: The aim of this study was to elucidate the link of how physical activity, challenging behaviors, and parental stress are influenced by sleep in children with ASD. Methods: This prospective correlational study took place over one year and included a sample of 32 children with ASD aged 2 to 8 years (mean age=5.50±1.68; 75.0% male; 78.1% White), and their caregivers (mean age=37.44±6.30; 96.9% female; 90.6% White), in the Midwest region of the United States. The caregiver’s completed measures of sleep behaviors (Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire), challenging behaviors (Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Irritability), and caregiver stress (Parenting Stress Index). Sleep efficiency (SE%) and MVPA were measured objectively on the child’s non-dominant wrist with the ActigraphTM wGT3X-BT for 5 consecutive days and nights. Findings: Linear regressions revealed MVPA was not a significant predictor of SE%, but was a meaningful, though non-significant predictor of sleep behaviors (Standardized β=.257, p=.196). SE% was not a significant predictor of challenging behaviors. On the other hand, sleep behaviors were a meaningful, though non-significant, predictor of the number of challenging behaviors (Standardized β=.316, p=.079). In the two multivariate regression models, challenging behaviors was the highest significant predictor of parental stress (Standardized β=.679, p<.001; Standardized β=.634, p<.001), while SE% and sleep behaviors were not significant predictors of parental stress. The Pearson correlation showed SE% was significantly associated with sleep behaviors (r=-.347, p=.038). Conclusions: The findings support relationships between MVPA and sleep behaviors, and between sleep behaviors and challenging behaviors of children with ASD as contextual factors and their caregiver’s stress as the outcome. While MVPA was not a significant predictor of SE%, research is needed to further validate and explore this relationship in a larger and more diverse sample of young children with ASD compared to neurotypical controls.
Jaclene Zauszniewski, PhD, RN-BC, CCS, CPC, FAAN (Committee Chair)
Christopher Burant, PhD, MACTM (Committee Member)
Marguerite DiMarco, PhD, RN, CPNP, FAAN (Committee Member)
Cynthia Johnson, PhD, BCBA-D (Committee Member)
Beth Malow, MD, MS (Committee Member)
242 p.
Nursing
autism spectrum disorder; challenging behaviors; parental stress; physical activity; sleep

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Alder, M. L. (2021). Sleep in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1619540173790598

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Alder, Megan. Sleep in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 2021. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1619540173790598.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Alder, Megan. "Sleep in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1619540173790598

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1619540173790598
78
© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.