Lack of sleep seen to cause sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) in adolescents with attention deficits

This study provides clear experimental evidence that how much teens with ADHD sleep has a significant impact on their attention and behavior. An additional 1.6 hours per night — the average difference in sleep during restriction and extension weeks — had impacts that were discernible to parents and, for some outcomes, to teens themselves. The fact that these results are not surprising does not diminish their potential significance. Increasing sleep is a safe, free, intervention that can make a meaningful difference. What is surprising, however, is that that assessing sleep and intervening where indicated is not done for many youth with ADHD. While the impact of increasing sleep did not have as large an effect, on average, as medication, there is no reason not to include sleep assessment and intervention for nearly all youth with ADHD. There is virtually no cost to doing this and it can make a difference. The study would have been stronger if data was also obtained from teachers to learn whether the benefits that parents observed were also observed at school. This is particularly true since parents were not ‘blind’ to sleep condition and their ratings may thus have been influenced by knowledge of whether their child was in the restriction or extension portion of the study. This could be addressed in subsequent research. This limitation not withstanding, the study highlight a safe, inexpensive, and potentially valuable target for intervention in youth with ADHD that may...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Attention and ADD/ADHD Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness actigraph adolescents behavior children cognitive tempo sleep problems Source Type: blogs