Autistic boys get less sleep with media in bedrooms

A study shows that media screens in the bedroom of autistic boys resulted in them getting significantly less sleep.

For boys with autism, having easy access to media in the bedroom is linked to significantly less sleep, according to researchers from the University of Missouri.

“Previous research has shown that bedroom access to screen-based media is associated with less time spent sleeping in the general population,” said Christopher Engelhardt, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at the MU Thompson Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders and the MU School of Health Professions.

“We found that this relationship is stronger among boys with autism.

“Our current results were cross-sectional, meaning that we are not able to determine whether pre-bedtime media exposure causes some children with autism to sleep less,” he said.

“However, the relationship between bedroom media access and sleep was particularly large among boys with autism, suggesting that we should continue to carefully research this possibility.”

For the study, researchers looked at the relationship between media use and sleep among boys with autism compared to typically developing boys or boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Parents of the boys in each group were surveyed regarding the child’s hours of media use each day, bedroom access to media and the average hours of sleep they received per night. The findings revealed a link between bedroom access to a television or computer and reduced sleep among boys with autism.

Furthermore, average video-game exposure was connected to less time spent sleeping among the boys with ASD.

“Even though our findings are preliminary, parents should be aware that media use may have an effect on sleep, especially for children with autism,” Engelhardt said. “If children are having sleep problems, parents might consider monitoring and possibly limiting their children’s media use, especially around bedtime.”

Engelhardt says future research should investigate the processes by which bedroom access to media could contribute to sleep disturbances in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

“It is also important to note that some media use may also be beneficial for children with autism,” Engelhardt said. “Future research is also needed to determine how video games and other technologies may be helpful in teaching and reinforcing skills and behaviors.”

It is estimated that about one in 88 children have ASD, which is characterized by social and communication difficulties as well as repetitive behaviors.

Sleep problems are very common in children with autism, and this may be due to a variety of underlying causes. Media use may worsen some of these underlying factors, and it appears to be an area for future research, Engelhardt said.

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Electronic media affects children's sleeping patterns

Research shows that children's sleeping patterns can be negatively affected due to the amount of time a child spends with electronic media.

Children's sleep disruption is worse with increased time spent watching TV or playing on the computer, finds research in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health. The greater the e-media use was at the start of the study, the shorter the sleep duration and the later the bedtime was eighteen months later. The academics suggest that where children are struggling to sleep, or are tired, their media habits should be taken into consideration.

The amount of sleep children get has a direct bearing on their performance in school and their mental and physical health. Snap shot studies suggest that the more kids use electronic media the less sleep they get, and that their sleep is more likely to be disturbed. But how much does watching TV or playing on the computer affect sleep patterns as children grow up?

To answer this question researchers from Folkhälsan Research Center, Finland, compared computer use and TV viewing with sleep patterns in 10-11 year olds and then reassessed them eighteen months later. Children with a TV or computer in their bedroom, compared with the frequency of usage, demonstrated a greater delay when going to bed on school days and the weekend which resulted in less sleep. However girls may be catching up at the weekends as they tended to sleep in more as they got older.

When the researchers looked at boys and girls separately they found that there were other gender differences -- boys with a computer or TV in their bedroom went to bed later than the girls and had a larger increase in bed time.

Teija Nuutinen, who led this study commented, "Children need extra sleep as they go through puberty but our study finds that TV and computer use affect the sleep of children. This is especially true during the week and may be impacting their school work as well as their development. Media viewing habits should be considered for kids who are tired and struggling to concentrate, or who have behaviour problems caused by lack of sleep."

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