TY - JOUR
T1 - Bidirectional associations between maternal mental health and child sleep problems in children with ADHD
T2 - a longitudinal study
AU - Martin, Christina A.
AU - Mulraney, Melissa
AU - Papadopoulos, Nicole
AU - Rinehart, Nicole J.
AU - Sciberras, Emma
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council project grant (NHMRC; 607362). E.S. is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Award (1110688) and a veski Inspiring Women’s Fellowship. C.A.M. is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (0000019042). The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is supported by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program.
Funding Information:
The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: N.J.R. and N.P. receive philanthropic funding from Moose Toys; Ferrero Group Australia as part of its Kinder + Sport pillar of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives; MECCA Brands; Wenig Family; Geelong Community Foundation: The Grace and Emilio Foundation; and industry partner funding from the Victorian Department of Education, to conduct research in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders and inclusion. They have also previously received scholarship funding from the Australian Football League and industry partner funding from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). N.J.R. has previously received donations from VicHealth and the Bus Association Victoria; previous speaker honorarium from Novartis (2002), Pfizer (2006), and Nutricia (2007); and is a Director of the Amaze Board (Autism Victoria). None of the companies or organizational bodies listed above had a role in this research including the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in writing of the manuscript; and/or in the decision to submit this abstract for publication. The remaining authors have no potential conflicts of interests to declare.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/9/1
Y1 - 2021/9/1
N2 - Background: Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience more sleep problems than their typically developing peers. In addition, their parents experience higher rates of mental health difficulties relative to parents of children without ADHD. Cross-sectional studies have reported associations; however, longitudinal studies have not yet been conducted. This study aimed to investigate potential bidirectional relationships between sleep problems in children with ADHD and maternal mental health difficulties (i.e. overall mental health, depression, anxiety, stress) over a 12-month period. Methods: Female caregivers of 379 children with ADHD (5–13 years) reported on their child’s sleep (Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire) and their own mental health (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) at three time points over a 12-month period (baseline, 6-months, and 12-months). Autoregressive cross-lagged panel analyses were used to analyze the data, controlling for child age, child sex, ADHD symptom severity, ADHD medication use, comorbidities (autism spectrum disorder, internalizing disorders, and externalizing disorders), caregiver age, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Results: Child sleep problems and maternal mental health difficulties were highly stable across the 12-month period. In addition, longitudinal relationships were evident, with child sleep problems at 6-months predicting both overall maternal mental health difficulties and maternal anxiety at 12-months. However, child sleep problems at 6-months did not predict maternal depression or maternal stress at 12-months. There was little evidence that maternal mental health difficulties predicted child sleep problems over the 12-month period. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that despite the stability in child sleep problems and maternal mental health difficulties over time, sleep problems in children with ADHD contribute to later maternal mental health difficulties. This suggests that sleep interventions to improve child sleep may lead to an improvement in maternal mental health over time. It also suggests a need to be aware of the potential mental health difficulties being experienced by mothers who have children with sleep problems.
AB - Background: Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience more sleep problems than their typically developing peers. In addition, their parents experience higher rates of mental health difficulties relative to parents of children without ADHD. Cross-sectional studies have reported associations; however, longitudinal studies have not yet been conducted. This study aimed to investigate potential bidirectional relationships between sleep problems in children with ADHD and maternal mental health difficulties (i.e. overall mental health, depression, anxiety, stress) over a 12-month period. Methods: Female caregivers of 379 children with ADHD (5–13 years) reported on their child’s sleep (Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire) and their own mental health (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) at three time points over a 12-month period (baseline, 6-months, and 12-months). Autoregressive cross-lagged panel analyses were used to analyze the data, controlling for child age, child sex, ADHD symptom severity, ADHD medication use, comorbidities (autism spectrum disorder, internalizing disorders, and externalizing disorders), caregiver age, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Results: Child sleep problems and maternal mental health difficulties were highly stable across the 12-month period. In addition, longitudinal relationships were evident, with child sleep problems at 6-months predicting both overall maternal mental health difficulties and maternal anxiety at 12-months. However, child sleep problems at 6-months did not predict maternal depression or maternal stress at 12-months. There was little evidence that maternal mental health difficulties predicted child sleep problems over the 12-month period. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that despite the stability in child sleep problems and maternal mental health difficulties over time, sleep problems in children with ADHD contribute to later maternal mental health difficulties. This suggests that sleep interventions to improve child sleep may lead to an improvement in maternal mental health over time. It also suggests a need to be aware of the potential mental health difficulties being experienced by mothers who have children with sleep problems.
KW - ADHD
KW - attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
KW - maternal anxiety
KW - mental health
KW - sleep
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112157761&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1087054720923083
DO - 10.1177/1087054720923083
M3 - Article
C2 - 34355612
AN - SCOPUS:85112157761
SN - 1087-0547
VL - 25
SP - 1603
EP - 1604
JO - Journal of Attention Disorders
JF - Journal of Attention Disorders
IS - 11
ER -