Associations between sleep and inattentive/hyperactive problem behavior among foster and community children.

OBJECTIVE

Sleep disruption has been linked to numerous neural regulatory problems and problems with social emotional and behavioral functioning, and researchers have shown that sleep disruption is prominent in children with symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. These issues are germane to foster children, who have numerous disparities in areas of self-regulation and psychopathology but for whom there has been very little examination of sleep quality or the associations between poor sleep quality and physiological/behavioral dysregulation.

METHOD: Actigraphy measures were used to examine associations between sleep duration/quality and inattentive/hyperactive problem behavior in a sample of 79 children (aged 5-7 years): 32 foster children and 47 nonmaltreated community children.

RESULTS

Of the sleep variables examined, only sleep duration was significantly associated with inattentive/hyperactive problem behavior. These associations were more significant in foster children compared to community children and in boys compared to girls.

CONCLUSION

The results have several implications for prevention and intervention research.