Sensory Processing, Physiological Stress, and Sleep Behaviors in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Sleep problems have been frequently identified in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been proposed that some sleep problems are due to sensory sensitivity. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physiologic responses to sensation and sleep in children with and without ASD. Fifty-five children participated in the study (ASD, n = 27; typical, n = 28). All children participated in a sensory challenge laboratory protocol. Electrodermal reactivity and salivary cortisol were used as physiological indicators of sensory responsivity. Behavioral data were collected using the Sensory Profile and the Child Behavior Checklist. Results confirmed that children with ASD have a higher prevalence of atypical sensory behaviors and sleep disturbances than typical children. Behavioral and physiological measures were able to predict good sleepers versus poor sleepers with 85.7% accuracy, suggesting that atypical sensory behaviors are important to consider in relation to sleep deficits in children.

Psychological Correlates of Sensory Processing Patterns in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

“…In twelve papers (Baranek et al 2013;Boyd et al 2010;Brock et al 2012;Gal et al 2010;Green et al 2012;Hilton et al 2007;Lane et al 2010;Lane et al 2012, Liss et al 2006Nadon et al 2011;Reynolds et al 2012;Samson et al 2013) investigation of associations between sensory processing patterns and a single psychological construct were carried out. Three of these papers have multiple hypotheses on the sub-constructs of the phenomenon under investigation that were tested.…”

“…However, sample characteristics were not always well described. Three studies (Lane et al 2012;Liss et al 2006;Tseng et al 2011) reported only gender and age of their participants. Only Nadon et al (2011) provided all the demographics selected in the evaluation grid characteristics (e.g.…”

“…These models were informed with both observational data and parent reports, and in both studies further confirmatory factor analysis was performed to ensure appropriate model fit to the data (in Table 3 information on each measure separately rather than the final models can be found). Pfeiffer et al (2005) In eight studies there was information about a sensory measure being standardized (Gal et al 2010;Jasmin et al 2009;Lane et al 2010;Lane et al 2012;Nadon et al 2011;Pfeiffer et al, 2005;Reynolds et al 2012;Watson et al 2011) with Liss and colleagues (2006) providing a reference to a current standardization work. Remaining studies did not report on the measures' standardization.…”

“…Nine studies (Baker et al 2008;Baranek et al 2013;Boyd et al 2010;Brock et al 2012;Jasmin et al 2009;Lane et al 2010;Nadon et al 2011;Tseng et al 2011;Watson et al 2011) focussed on early and middle childhood (20 to 115 months). A further nine studies (Ashburner et al 2008;Chen et al 2009;Gal et al 2010;Hilton et al 2007;Lane et al 2012;Liss et al 2006;Pfeiffer et al 2005;Reynolds et al 2012;Samson et al 2013) included children and adolescents between middle childhood and mid-teens (6 to 17 years). Two studies included both children and In all the studies, the gender of the participants was reported and 84.3% of participants were male.…”

“…In fourteen papers the assessment of children was carried out prior to inclusion in the study by using 'gold-standard' diagnostic tools such as Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) or Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). In the remaining seven papers (Ashburner et al 2008;Gal et al 2010;Hilton et al 2007;Lane et al 2012;Liss et al 2006;Nadon et al 2011;Tseng et al 2011) documents stating children's and young people diagnosis were gathered or 9 non 'gold-standard' tools were used to confirm diagnosis e.g. medical chart review.…”