Physical Activity And Sleep Quality In Childhood Adhd

PURPOSE: Examine the associations between physical activity (PA) and sleep quality outcomes related to childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) METHODS: Cross-sectional pediatric data (N = 59, F = 26, age = 9.95 ± 2.84) was collected to explore connections among physical activity and sleep quality measures. Children were grouped via confirmed ADHD diagnosis (ADHD: N = 21), undiagnosed ADHD yet highly symptomatic on the ADHD-IV Rating Scale (SYM: N = 21), and neurotypical (NT: N = 17) development. Outcomes included: the percentage of time spent in daily PA behaviors (sedentary, light PA[LPA], and moderate-to-vigorous PA[MVPA]), obtained via accelerometry; and self-reported sleep metrics (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: PSQI domains of daytime dysfunction, sleep latency, and sleep dysfunction). One-way MANOVAs with Tukey's post-hoc tests were used to compare the outcomes between NT, SYM, and ADHD. Pearson correlations were used for exploratory associations between PA and sleep in the ADHD group only. RESULTS: Post-hoc MANOVA results revealed significant group differences in daily LPA (F(2,52) = 8.47, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.25). Children with ADHD (12.78士4.06%) had significantly higher LPA than SYM (16.63士3.96%; p = 0.01), who also had significantly higher LPA than NT (11.05士4.56%; p < 0.001). Similarly, daytime dysfunction was higher in ADHD (1.00士0.65) compared to both NT (0.41士0.51) and SYM (0.52士0.60; F(2,55) = 5.32, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.16). Among ADHD, sedentary time was positively correlated with daytime dysfunction (r = 0.526, p = 0.017), and LPA was negatively correlated with daytime dysfunction (r = −0.690, p = 0.001) and sleep disturbances (r = −0.569, p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Results show that children who present with more severe ADHD symptoms (diagnosed and undiagnosed) exhibited higher LPA and higher daytime dysfunction, compared to their NT peers. When examining the ADHD group alone, there were positive associations between sedentary time and daytime dysfunction, and negative associations between LPA and daytime dysfunction and sleep disturbances. ADHD is widely prevalent yet poorly understood in the management of daily symptoms. Children with ADHD symptoms might benefit from targeted strategies to improve sleep quality, perhaps with more bouts of MVPA. Supported by: Rhode Island Foundation Medical Research Grant