Sleep disorders in children/adolescents with neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: what evidences do we have with the use of non-pharmacological interventions? - PubMed

5 hours ago

Sleep disturbances are common in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and worsen symptoms and caregiver burden.
Non-pharmacological interventions include behavioral and parent-led strategies like psychoeducation, sleep hygiene, routines, and extinction-based methods.
These interventions improve parent-reported sleep and daytime behavior, though objective sleep gains are smaller.
In epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), tailored behavioral-educational programs are effective and acceptable.
For attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavioral sleep interventions and melatonin help sleep, with behavioral approaches slightly reducing ADHD symptoms.
Evidence for cerebral palsy (CP) and rare genetic neurodevelopmental conditions (RGNCs) supports individualized, multimodal management targeting both behavioral and physiological factors.
Behavioral sleep interventions are safe and clinically useful across NDDs, especially in multidisciplinary care, but efficacy is limited by small, heterogeneous studies and non-standardized outcomes.
There is a need for robust, syndrome-specific randomized trials with standardized sleep and daytime measures to guide evidence-based practice.

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