A Behavioral Intervention for Ameliorating Sleep Problems in Children With ASD

Soroka University Medical Center

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Sleep; Autism

Treatments: Behavioral: Behavioral treatment for sleep difficulties

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04539990

sor 0266-20 ctil

Details and patient eligibility

About

The present study will test the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention program that targets sleep problems in 1.5-5-year-old children with ASD. Sleep patterns will be measured using questionnaires and sleep diaries that will be completed by the parents as well as by Fitbit sensors that will be placed on the child's wrist or back of the arm. The study will also explore whether specific child (e.g., severity of cognitive abilities) or parent characteristics (e.g., parent stress levels) impact the effectiveness of the intervention. In addition, we will examine whether changes in sleep disturbances are associated with changes in the family's quality of life.

Enrollment: 100 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 months to 5 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Parents of 1.5-5-year-old children with autism will be asked to fill the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Those who report high scores on the following 3 CSHQ subscales will be invited to participate: bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and night-wakings.

Exclusion criteria

None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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100 participants in 1 patient group

Behavioral Sleep Treatment

Experimental group

Description:

Parents of children with autism will come to two group meetings (up to 5 families in each group) where they will be receive information regarding sleep hygiene and behavioral techniques for reducing sleep onset delays and night awakenings. The program will last 8 weeks. Meetings will be held on week 1 and week 3. In addition parents will receive a weekly phone call where they will be asked about their ability to implement the behavioral techniques. Sleep of the children will be measured using questionnaires, sleep diaries and with a Fitbit sensor before and after the program.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Behavioral treatment for sleep difficulties