1. Insomnia Severity in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder Is Associated with Sensory Hyper-Reactivity and Social Skill Impairment
- Author
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Hohn, Vanessa D., de Veld, Danielle M. J., Mataw, Kawita J. S., van Someren, Eus J. W., and Begeer, Sander
- Abstract
Insomnia is a common source of distress in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two characteristics of ASD could be relevant to insomnia complaints by hampering the entrainment of a circadian sleep-wake rhythm. First, sensory hyper-reactivity could lead to bright light avoidance and thus affect photoperiodic input to the circadian system. Second, impaired social skills complicate the establishment of a social interactions and thus affect scheduled social-behavioral input to the circadian system. We investigated the association of insomnia severity with sensory reactivity and social skills in 631 adults (18-65 years) with ASD. Results revealed positive associations of insomnia severity with general and visual sensory hyper-reactivity and with impairment of social skills. The findings warrant further studies which (1) directly assess whether a suboptimal functioning of the biological clock underlies these associations and (2) identify other factors that could contribute to observed sleep problems.
- Published
- 2019
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