Effectiveness of Behavioural Interventions for Childhood Sleep Problems: A Review Study

Abstract

Sleep-related problems and disorders are very common disorders in the pediatric population, and its prevalence is estimated to be 20-30% in children and adolescents. It is known that childhood sleep problems are resistant and may last until adulthood. Thus, the aim of this review is to understand the effects of behavioral interventions in the treatment of childhood sleep problems and to determine the effective techniques. In this review studies published between the years of 2004 and 2014 have been searched in ScienceDirect, GoogleScholar, Ulakbim and Springer databases. 'Pediatric sleep disorders, childhood sleep disorders, childhood insomnia, behavioral insomnia, bedtime resistance, night awakening, behavioral therapy, behavioral intervention, extinguishing, gradual extinction, the transition to sleep time, scheduled wake up, delaying bedtime, family education' words and phrases have been searched. While studies conducted on children with developmental disorders and studies addressing behavioral treatment combined with pharmacotherapy were excluded, studies conducted with children between 0 and 13 years of age who did not receive any medication for their sleep problems or disorders. A total of 11 studies meeting the inclusion criteria of the study were identified. As a result of the review, sleep time routine, transition to bedtime and extinction techniques were found to be effective techniques in the treatment of problems such as resistance to bedtime, frequent night waking, and delay in onset of sleep. Moreover, In addition, family education technique is thought to be beneficial in the treatment of sleep disorder in clinical settings with limited opportunities.