Behavioral symptoms and sleep problems in children with anxiety disorder. Issue 4 (8th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Iwadare, Yoshitaka; Kamei, Yuichi; Usami, Masahide; Ushijima, Hirokage; Tanaka, Tetsuya; Watanabe, Kyota; Kodaira, Masaki; Saito, Kazuhiko
• Is Part Of: Pediatrics international. Volume 57:Issue 4(2015)
• Page Start: 690
• Page End: 693
• Publication Date: 2015-06-08
• Subjects: Pediatrics -- Periodicals; 618.92
• DOI: 10.1111/ped.12620
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1328-8067

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="ped12620-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Sleep disorders are frequently associated with childhood behavioral problems and mental illnesses such as anxiety disorder. To identify promising behavioral targets for pediatric anxiety disorder therapy, we investigated the associations between specific sleep and behavioral problems.</p> </sec> <sec id="ped12620-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>We conducted retrospective reviews of 105 patients aged 4–12 years who met the DSM‐IV criteria for primary diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (n = 33), separation anxiety disorder (n = 23), social phobia (n = 21), or obsessive compulsive disorder (n = 28). Sleep problems were evaluated using the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and behavioral problems by the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, Oppositional Defiant Behavior Inventory (ODBI), and Depression Self‐Rating Scale for Children.</p> </sec> <sec id="ped12620-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Depressive behavior was weakly correlated with CSHQ subscores for sleep onset delay and night waking but not with total sleep disturbance. Anxiety was correlated with bedtime resistance, night waking, and total sleep disturbance score. Oppositional defiance was correlated with bedtime resistance, daytime sleepiness, sleep onset delay, and most strongly with total sleep disturbance. On multiple regression analysis ODBI score had the strongest positive association with total sleep disturbance and the strongest negative association with total sleep duration.</p> </sec> <sec id="ped12620-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Sleep problems in children with anxiety disorders are closely related to anxiety and oppositional defiant symptoms.</p> </sec> </abstract>