Sleep problems in internationally adopted children: a pilot study

Abstract

Eva Schenkels,1 Nicky Steinfort,1 Marek Wojciechowski,1 Stijn Verhulst1,2 1Department of Pediatrics, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium; 2Lab of Experimental Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, BelgiumApproximately 25% of children experience a sleep problem.1 Medical conditions and social and emotional stress can impact developing sleep patterns. Internationally adopted children could therefore be at risk. Although many adoptive parents report a sleep problem in their children,2–5 these studies have not focused on sleep specifically or used validated sleep questionnaires. To the best of our knowledge, two studies in adopted children used validated sleep questionnaires. However, the first study only investigated sleep in maltreated children with behavioral difficulties,6 and the second study mainly investigated the role of marital distress on the development of sleep disorders in children unrelated to genetic factors.2 Therefore, this study aimed to investigate sleep disorders in internationally adopted children.

Keywords

• sleep
• sleep disorders: adoption
• restless legs syndrome
• disorders of initiating and/or maintaining sleep