Telehealth Delivery of Treatment for Sleep Disturbances in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social and communication deficits, as well as restrictive interests and repetitive behaviors. With estimates of one in 88 to 150 being in effect, development and providing effective treatment is a significant public health issue. Nearly 80% of children with ASD also have sleep disturbances. Disordered sleep in children with ASD can amplify already delayed social interactions, repetitive behaviors, affective problems, inattention/hyperactivity, and irritability. Given the documented detrimental effects of sleep disturbance on cognition, attention, memory consolidation, and daytime behavioral adjustment, treating sleep disturbances in young children with ASD is highly likely to promote overall improvement and fuller use of educational/therapeutic interventions to address the social, communication, and behavioral deficits. Moreover, sleep difficulties in children with ASD produce significant stress on caregivers, as well as negatively impacting their sleep. Behaviorally based interventions have been the treatment of consensus for pediatric sleep disturbances more broadly. Structured behavioral parent training has shown promise, including a prior study of the Principal Investigator’s. However, accessibility is problematic for many families, especially those in rural settings and distances from specialized autism centers and pediatric sleep medicine programs. Hence, testing an alternative, more family-friendly delivery model of a parent training intervention program targeting sleep disturbance is of critical need. Objectives: This application proposes to deliver an already initially tested parent training program specially targeting bedtime and sleep disturbances. For this project, the parent training program will be delivered individually via a telehealth platform and will further be enhanced by the use of telehealth to provide parent coaching by a therapist at bedtime. The five-session, 10-week trial of the parent training program targeting sleep disturbances will be compared to a five-session, 10-week parent education program in a clinical trial with participants who will be randomized to one of the two programs. Assessments of sleep, child behavior, and parent well-being will be completed at four times to determine the efficacy of the parent training for sleep compared to the general parent education program. Those participants who are randomized to the parent education program will be offered the parent training program for sleep disturbances at the end of the study. This proposal is aligned with the identified pressing need in ASD to conduct well-designed studies to expand the portfolio of empirically supported, time-limited, cost-effective, community-based interventions to meet rising demand and guide clinical practice. This application, in response to a Fiscal Year 2017 Autism Research Program Clinical Trial Award funding opportunity (W81XWH-17-ARP-CTA), addresses the following areas of interest: (1) behavioral, cognitive, and other non-pharmacological therapies and (2) therapies to alleviate conditions co-occurring in ASD (e.g., sleep disturbances).
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 2018
- Source ID
- W81XWH1810520
Entities
People
- Cynthia Johnson
Organizations
- Cleveland Clinic
- United States Army