ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Human Developmental Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Insights into Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorder and its ComorbiditiesView all 13 articles
Sleep Problems in Autistic Children and Adolescents: an Age-Stratified Approach
Provisionally accepted
Antonio Paone1*
Maria Grazia Logrieco2*
Silvia Guerrera3
Elisa Fucà3
Laura Casula3Alessandra Minutolo3
Stefano Vicari3
Giovanni Valeri3- 1Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
- 2Universita degli Studi di Foggia, Foggia, Italy
- 3Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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Sleep disorders are common in autistic children and adolescents. However, the associations between the age of the children with clinical features remain underexplored. This study investigates age-specific relationships between sleep difficulties and autism symptomatology, behavioral/emotional problems, cognitive development, and parenting stress. A total of 218 autistic participants were divided into three age groups: 6–36 months, 3–6 years, and 6–18 years. Sleep was assessed using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC); behavioral and emotional difficulties were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL); autism severity through ADOS-2; cognitive development through IQ/DQ scores and parenting stress through PSI. Results demonstrate age-specific variations in the relationship between sleep disturbances and clinical features in autistic children. In the 6–36 months group, sleep difficulties were influenced by autism severity, cognitive level, and emotional-behavioral factors. In the 3–6 years group, behavioral and emotional regulation issues were associated to sleep problems. In children aged 6–18 years, autism severity, adaptive functioning, and parenting stress emerged as key factors contributing to sleep disturbances. These findings underscore the dynamic and evolving nature of sleep problems in autism, highlighting the need for age-tailored interventions.
Keywords: adaptive functioning, Age-Specific Analysis, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Behavioral problems, parenting stress, Sleep Disorders
Received: 24 Oct 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Paone, Logrieco, Guerrera, Fucà, Casula, Minutolo, Vicari and Valeri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Antonio Paone
Maria Grazia Logrieco
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