Childhood Sleep Disorders (original) (raw)

1990, Applied Clinical Psychology

Approximately 25% of all children experience some type of sleep problem at some point during childhood, ranging from short-term difficulties in falling asleep and night wakings, to more serious primary sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea. A number of studies have examined the prevalence of parent-and child-reported sleep complaints in large samples of healthy, typically developing children and adolescents; many of these have also further delineated the association between disrupted sleep and behavioral concerns. Sleep problems are even more prevalent in children and adolescents with chronic medical, neurodevelopmental, and psychiatric conditions. It is important to note that definitions of normal sleep patterns, sleep requirements, and sleep disorders in childhood must necessarily incorporate the wide range of normal developmental and physical maturational changes across childhood and adolescence, and cultural, environmental, and social influences. Normal sleep patterns and behavior in childhood To define abnormal, problematic, or insufficient sleep in infants, children, and adolescents, it is important to have an understanding of what constitutes ''normal'' sleep in children. Definitions of normal sleep patterns and sleep requirements in childhood, and descriptions of sleep phenotypes, must necessarily incorporate the wide range of normal developmental and physical maturational changes across childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, cultural, environmental, and social influences, which profoundly influence children's sleep in particular, must also be considered.