Poor Infant Sleep May Signal Higher Autism Risk, Study Finds
Australia: A recent Australian study has found that disrupted sleep patterns in infancy may be early indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) later in childhood. Published in the BMJ journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, the research connects shorter night-time sleep and increased odds of autism characteristics and diagnosis by age 11.
The prospective study, conducted in Victoria’s Barwon region, involved over 1,000 mother-infant pairs recruited between 2010 and 2013. Zaynab Mohamed, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and colleagues analyzed infant sleep behaviors at ages 6 and 12 months of age. They followed up on autism-related traits and diagnoses through early childhood and into preadolescence.
Using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire, parents reported their child's sleep duration and latency—the time it takes for a child to fall asleep. These sleep metrics were compared with behavioral assessments at ages 2 and 4, and formal autism diagnoses made by 11.5 years based on DSM-5 criteria.
The study led to the following findings:
- A 10% increase in infant night-time sleep duration (approximately one hour) was associated with a 4.5% reduction in autism-related traits at ages 2 and 4.
- The same increase in sleep duration was linked to a 22% lower likelihood of an autism diagnosis by age 11.5.
- A 25% increase in sleep latency at 12 months (around five additional minutes to fall asleep) was associated with a 1.5% rise in autism-related traits.
- This increased sleep latency also corresponded to a 7.7% higher chance of being diagnosed with autism.
- Among children later diagnosed with autism, 42% had used melatonin in the month before assessment, indicating ongoing sleep difficulties.
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