Chronotypes and trauma reactions in children with ADHD in home confinement of COVID-19: full mediation effect of sleep problems

Chronotypes and trauma reactions in children with ADHD in home confinement of COVID-19: full mediation effect of sleep problems

Çetin FH, Uçar HN, Türkoğlu S, Kahraman EM, Kuz M, Güleç A.

Chronobiol Int. 2020 Aug 28:1-8.

doi: 10.1080/07420528.2020.1785487.

Commentary* by Dr. Margaret Weiss: Children at home lose the structure provided by having to wake up for school. This article suggests that impact of change in sleep patterns impacts impairment secondary to COVID, and is something that we need to be asking about in monitoring outcome during this crisis.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between chronotype preference/sleep problems and symptom severity of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during the COVID-19 outbreak and to assess the chronotype preference/sleep problems that may play a mediating role in the relationship between the reactions to trauma and severity of ADHD symptoms.

The sample of this single-center cross-sectional study consisted of 76 children with ADHD and their parents. Trauma symptoms were evaluated with the Children’s Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8); sleep habits were assessed using the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ); and chronotype was assessed using the Children’s Chronotype Questionnaire (CCQ).

There were significant differences in CRIES-8 and CSHQ scores between the eveningness type group and the non-eveningness type group. The CRIES-8 scores of children with ADHD were related to the CCQ and CSHQ scores and severity of ADHD symptoms. In mediation analyses, sleep problems were found to be the full mediating factor in the relationship between CRIES-8 scores and severity of ADHD symptoms and the relationship between CCQ scores and the severity of ADHD symptoms.

Our findings indicate that chronotype plays an important role on the negative effects of home confinement of ADHD children during the COVID-19 outbreak. The role of the full mediator of sleep problems in the path from cognition to the behavior of young ADHD and non-ADHD children confined to the home environment during the pandemic period requires further assessment.

* Les résumés scientifiques (abstracts) sont sélectionnés pour leur pertinence clinique par Dre. Margaret Weiss, Directrice de la recherche clinique, pédopsychiatrie, Cambridge Health Alliance, Université Harvard. Ses commentaires reflètent sa propre opinion. Ils ne sont ni approuvés par la CADDRA, ni nécessairement représentatifs de celle-ci.