Multifactorial Influences, Including Comorbidities, Contributing to Sleep Disturbance in Children with a Neurodevelopmental Disorder

The term neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) implies an impairment of the growth and development of the CNS caused by genetic, metabolic, toxic, or traumatic factors. Childhood neuropsychiatric disorder is a subset of NDD. Sleep disturbance is reported in many children with NDD although the details of this association, including extent and types of sleep disturbance, etiology, and assessment and treatment issues, need to be clarified by further research. This review considers the nature of sleep disturbance in NDD. Emphasis is placed on sleep disorders (i.e., the specific conditions that cause sleep problems) of which many are now recognized in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-3), and also intrinsic pathophysiological factors, physical and psychiatric comorbidities, and pharmacological and parental influences, which might contribute to the sleep disorders in children with NDD. The implications of this complexity for assessment and treatment in such children are then discussed. Appropriate treatment based on precise diagnosis of the causes of sleep disturbance is required to mitigate the harmful developmental effects of disordered sleep on children with NDD and their families.