About the project

Good sleep health is vital for child wellbeing, including mood and behaviour regulation, cognition, memory, social functioning and physical health (Meltzer et al., 2021). Poor sleep health in children is associated with parenting stress and parental mental distress (Martin et al., 2019). Children who are neurodiverse (ND) often have poorer sleep health that may worsen with age, as habits become established (Deliens & Peigneux, 2019; McLay et al., 2021; Verhoeff et al., 2018).

The Aotearoa-New Zealand Autism guidelines (Whaikaha, 2022) recommend that early identification of neurodiversity is essential, as timely introduction of support programmes is more likely to lead to better outcomes later in life. Despite these recommendations, there is little prior research on the sleep health of ND children in Aotearoa, particularly their sleep health over time

This Honours research project will identify children at 8 years who have been diagnosed as ND with co-occurring characteristics such as physical developmental and behavioural challenges. We will then use data at two, four and eight years of age to describe the sleep health of these children, as well as the sleep health of typically developing (TD) children at the same time points. Analyses will investigate potential differences in sleep health between ND and NT children, Maaāori and non-Maaāori at these time points, after considering other socio-demographic factors that are known to influence sleep health. Findings may inform the need for intervention at a younger age, therefore activating investment in extra support of ND tamariki/children and their whaanau/families (Whaikaha, 2022).

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Start date: 1/03/2023