Sleep, anxiety and challenging behaviour in children with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder

Rzepecka, H., McKenzie, K., McClure, I., & Murphy, S. (2011). Sleep, anxiety and challenging behaviour in children with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(6), 2758-2766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2011.05.034

Publication date: 28 Jun 2011 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)

Abstract

Children with an intellectual disability (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to suffer from significantly more sleep problems, anxiety and challenging behaviour (CB) than typically developing children (TD), yet little is known about the relationship between these factors in the child ID/ASD population. The study aim was to examine these relationships. We hypothesised that there would be significant positive correlations between the three factors and that sleep problems and anxiety would predict a significant amount of the variance in levels of CB. Parental measures of sleep problems, anxiety and CB were completed by 187 parents of children with ID and/or ASD. Significant positive associations were found between the three factors. A hierarchical multiple regression showed that medication, sleep problems and anxiety accounted for 42% of the variance in CB, with a large effect size. These findings suggest that these relationships should be considered during clinical practice, particularly in the case of CB interventions where sleep problems and/or anxiety are also present.

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Cited references
77
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
0 / 77 (0.0%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
0 / 217 (0.0%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 0 / 25 (0.0%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 0 / 191 (0.0%).
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25 / 217 (11.5%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 14 / 191 (7.3%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
25 / 25 (100.0%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 25 / 217 (11.5%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 14 / 14 (100.0%).
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Crossref: not found (1) · DataCite: not found (1)
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