SUMMAR Y The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between circadian preferences, regularity of sleep patterns, sleep problems, daytime sleepiness and daytime behaviour. As a part of an epidemiological survey on sleep in a representative sample of Italian high-school students, a total of 6631 adolescents, aged 14.1-18.6 years, completed the School Sleep Habits Survey, a comprehensive questionnaire including items regarding sleep, sleepiness, substance use, anxiety and depressed mood, use of sleeping pills, school attendance and a morningness ⁄ eveningness scale. The sample consisted of 742 evening-types (315 males and 427 females; mean age 17.1 years) and 1005 morningtypes (451 males and 554 females; mean age 16.8 years). No significant sex differences were found for morningness ⁄ eveningness score. Eveningness was associated with later bedtime and wake-up time, especially on weekends, shorter time in bed during the week, longer weekend time in bed, irregular sleep-wake schedule, subjective poor sleep. Moreover, evening types used to nap more frequently during school days, complained of daytime sleepiness, referred more attention problems, poor school achievement, more injuries and were more emotionally upset than the other chronotype. They referred also greater caffeine-containing beverages and substances to promote sleep consumption. Our results suggest that circadian preference might be related not only to sleep pattern, but also to other adolescent behaviours.k e y w o r d s chronotype, sleep, daytime behaviour, adolescence, epidemiology

Although melatonin and cognitivebehavioural therapy have shown efficacy in treating sleep disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders, little is known about their relative or combined efficacy. One hundred and sixty children with autism spectrum disorders, aged 410 years, suffering from sleep onset insomnia and impaired sleep maintenance, were assigned randomly to either (1) combination of controlled-release melatonin and cognitivebehavioural therapy; (2) controlled-release melatonin; (3) four sessions of cognitivebehavioural therapy; or (4) placebo drug treatment condition for 12 weeks in a 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 ratio. Children were studied at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment. Treatment response was assessed with 1-week actigraphic monitoring, sleep diary and sleep questionnaire. Main outcome measures, derived actigraphically, were sleep latency, total sleep time, wake after sleep onset and number of awakenings. The active treatment groups all resulted in improvements across all outcome measures, with moderate-to-large effect sizes from baseline to a 12-week assessment. Melatonin treatment was mainly effective in reducing insomnia symptoms, while cognitivebehavioural therapy had a light positive impact mainly on sleep latency, suggesting that some behavioural aspects might play a role in determining initial insomnia. The combination treatment group showed a trend to outperform other active treatment groups, with fewer dropouts and a greater proportion of treatment responders achieving clinically significant changes (63.38% normative sleep efficiency criterion of >85% and 84.62%, sleep onset latency <30 min). This study demonstrates that adding behavioural intervention to melatonin treatment seems to result in a better treatment response, at least in the short term

This study investigated sleep of children with autism and developmental regression and the possible relationship with epilepsy and epileptiform abnormalities. Participants were 104 children with autism (70 non-regressed, 34 regressed) and 162 typically developing children (TD). Results suggested that the regressed group had higher incidence of circadian rhythm disorders than non-regressed children. The regressed group showed higher Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire Bedtime Resistance, Sleep Onset Delay, Sleep Duration and Night-Wakings scores. Epilepsy and frequent epileptiform EEG abnormalities were more frequent in regressed children. Past sleep disorders and a history of developmental regression were significantly associated with sleep disorders. This study is an initial step in better understanding sleep problems in regressed children with autism, further studies are necessary to better investigate these aspects.

Pravastatin and bezafibrate proved significantly more effective in the management of HAART-related hyperlipidaemia than the switching therapy from PI to nevirapine or efavirenz.

The prevalence and predictors of cosleeping were investigated in 901 healthy school-aged children. Parent reports on the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire and Child Behavior Checklist were used to assess children's sleep and behavioral problems. Regular, long-lasting cosleeping was present in 5% of our sample. Cosleepers rated higher on the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire total score and Bedtime Resistance, Sleep Anxiety, Nightwakings, and Parasomnias subscales than solitary sleepers. No significant behavioral problems were found in cosleepers. Regression results showed that low socioeconomic status, one parent who is a shiftworker, one-parent families, one parent who coslept as a child, prolonged breastfeeding, and previous and current sleep problems significantly predicted cosleeping. The high incidence of parents reporting having coslept as a child also suggested a lifestyle choice. Thus, cosleeping seems to reflect a parent's way to cope with sleep problems, and the long persistence of this practice may be related to the lifestyle of families.