Nightmares in Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Their Typically Developing Peers
Clocks & Sleep September 16, 2021 Rabya Mughal, Siu Sing Wong, Dagmara Dimitriou et al. 8 citations
Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience more sleep disturbances than typically developing (TD) peers. This first study of nightmare frequency and content in FASD used online caregiver questionnaires (CSHQ, CBCL, SCAS, BRIEF) for 277 children (61 ASD, 112 FASD, 104 TD). Nightmares were reported by 40.3% of ASD caregivers, 73.62% of FASD caregivers, and 21.36% of TD caregivers. Anxiety, maladaptive behaviour, and executive functioning correlated with nightmares in TD and FASD groups but not in ASD. The authors argue for sleep interventions in clinical practice and call for further research.