Parents’ Experiences of Weighted Blankets’ Impact on Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Sleep Problems—A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Sleep disturbances are common among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While pharmacological treatment has increased dramatically, parents often prefer non-pharmacological interventions. Research on experiences of weighted blankets and their effect in sleep improvement is scarce. The aim of this study was to explore parents’ experiences of weighted blankets for children with ADHD and sleep problems, and the impact on their children’s sleep. The explorative design was based on qualitative content analysis. Interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 24 parents of children with ADHD and sleep problems, after completing a sleep intervention with weighted blankets for 16 weeks. Parents reported that children sleeping with weighted blankets: (1) achieved satisfactory sleep, including improved sleep onset latency, sleep continuity, and sleep routines; (2) achieved overall well-being, including improved relaxation and reduced anxiety; and (3) mastered everyday life, including improved balance in life, family function, and participation in school and leisure activities. This study brings forward novel aspects of the effects of improved sleep among children with ADHD. The findings contribute to the understanding of potential positive effects of an intervention with weighted blankets critical for clinical practice to improve sleep, well-being, and everyday life of children with ADHD and their families.

Experiences of Using Weighted Blankets among Children with ADHD and Sleeping Difficulties

“…The children in our study have described improved daily functioning, which was confirmed by the parents of the children in a separate study [ 30 ]. This is in line with previous research on how improved sleep has the potential to increase children's self-regulation capacity [ 59 ] and overall functioning [ 9 , 12 , 65 ].…”

“…It is also of interest to discuss this in relation to the sensory regulation theory, by which a behavioral and emotional response is targeted through the child's sensory pathways [ 53 ]. The findings from our study add to previous research on the potential of weighted blankets' potential to reduce the core symptoms of children with ADHD [ 30 – 32 ]. Children with ADHD have difficulties in regulating arousal, attention, and behavioral response, and an intervention targeting these difficulties has the potential to improve the symptoms of children with ADHD.…”

“…The children in our study experienced improved sleeping patterns such as a shorter time before falling asleep, fewer awakenings, and less disturbance from the environment when using a weighted blanket. Weighted blankets may be an intervention that strengthens the cues of sleep onset by enhancing sensory stimuli in connection to sleep, lowering distraction from other stimuli, and improving the routine connected to preparing/going to sleep [ 17 , 30 ]. The weighted blankets can help the child to stay in bed, calming down and establish a routine that promotes sleep, and refrain from activating in other activities.…”

“…Individualized care, typical for assistive technology [ 22 , 23 ], needs to collect individual experiences from the target group in a systematic manner in order to ensure that the children's view is taken into account. Previous knowledge exploring weighted blankets in children with ADHD has informed the current body of knowledge based on parent interviews [ 17 , 30 ], parent questionnaires [ 31 ], parent sleep diaries [ 31 , 32 ], and objective sleep measurements [ 31 , 32 ] and is to the best of our knowledge lacking children's experiences of weighted blankets. We need to be aware of children's experiences in order to improve the delivery of tailored interventions and the prescription of assistive technology [ 23 , 33 ].…”

Weighted Blankets’ Effect on the Health of Older People Living in Nursing Homes

“…The previous studies have mainly studied children with ADHD and/or ASD and participants with psychiatric disorders [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. However, in those groups, the weighted blanket showed an improvement in the activities around the morning and evening routines that facilitated the ability to master everyday life, which led to a higher level of well-being and health [ 64 , 65 , 66 ]. The term QoL is comprehensive and describes several parameters in life, where physical ability is included as a prerequisite for a possible high QoL [ 67 ].…”