P114 Self-reported sleep duration and sleepiness in children with ADHD

Abstract Introduction Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often report disrupted sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness relative to typically-developing peers. Self-reported sleep indices offer clinically relevant insights into subjective sleep disturbances that may be overlooked by objective measures, or when such methods are impractical. This study provides preliminary findings on self-reported sleep duration and sleepiness in children with ADHD compared to an age-matched control. Methods Two hundred and sixty-five Australian children aged 7-12 years (38% ADHD) completed a modified Children’s Report of Sleep Patterns questionnaire, reporting sleep duration and daytime sleepiness. Factorial ANOVAs were conducted for each sleep index with Diagnosis (ADHD, TD), Age (7-9, 10-12 years), and Gender (male, female) as factors. Results No significant main effects of Diagnosis were found for sleep duration or daytime sleepiness (p>.05). An Age x Gender interaction was significant, revealing shorter sleep durations in older females, F(1, 261) = 3.97, p=.005. An Age effect for daytime sleepiness approached significance, F(1, 261) = 3.41, p=.066. Discussion While ADHD and typically-developing groups did not differ on sleep duration or daytime sleepiness, age and gender effects suggest developmental influences on sleep. These findings highlight the value of children’s perceptions of sleep in guiding assessment and targeted interventions. While expected diagnostic effects were not supported, these effects may emerge when ADHD subtypes are examined separately. Future research could investigate subtype-specific effects and how self-reported sleep metrics relate to cognitive and behavioural performance, building comprehensive understandings of sleep health in ADHD and typically-developing children.