Insomnia Severity in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder is Associated with sensory Hyper-Reactivity and Social Skill Impairment.
Vanessa D Hohn, Danielle M J de Veld, Kawita J S Mataw and 2 others
PMID 30737588WHAT IT FOUND
In adults with autism, more insomnia symptoms were linked to greater sensory reactivity, especially visual sensitivity, and poorer social skills.
Key findings
01After accounting for sex, medication, age and IQ, higher sensory reactivity and lower social skills were associated with more severe insomnia symptoms.
02When sensory modalities were examined separately, visual reactivity was the only sensory factor significantly associated with insomnia severity.
03Most participants did not report severe insomnia: 46% had no insomnia, 34% had subthreshold insomnia, 17% had moderate insomnia and 3% had severe insomnia.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used data from one time point and had no control group, so it cannot show that sensory reactivity or social skills cause insomnia, or that the pattern is specific to autism. Sleep was measured only by questionnaire; there was no actigraphy, polysomnography, melatonin measurement or direct circadian assessment. The online register may have excluded non-verbal or non-literate adults with autism. The models explained 8% of variance in the first analysis and 11% in the second, so many factors that were not measured likely influence insomnia severity. The study did not measure whether participants were receiving sleep interventions such as blue light therapy, melatonin or behavioural therapies, so treatment status was not considered. Sensory reactivity and social skills were self-reported, not observed or clinically assessed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reducing visual sensitivity or improving social skills will improve sleep. This study measured associations at one time point and did not test any intervention.