The Effectiveness of Child Mindfulness Therapy on the Sleep Problems and Behavioral Problems of Children with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with sleep and behavioral problems.   This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of child mindfulness therapy on sleep and behavioral problems of children with ADHD.

  This clinical trial study was conducted on all girls aged 7 to 12 years with ADHD in Mashhad, Iran, using a pre-and post-intervention, control, and follow-up design.  .   A total of 38 girls with ADHD were divided into two groups of intervention (19 people) and control (19 people) by a simple random method. The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire  (CSHQ; Owens et al., 2000) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescolar, 2000) were used to collect data.  ,  The child mindfulness therapy was implemented in eight sessions for the intervention group and the control group did not receive any type of intervention during the study.

 The child's mindfulness training reduced sleep problems.  such as resistance to falling asleep, parasomnias, and daytime sleepiness, and behavioral problems in the post-test and follow-up (p<0.05).

Child mindfulness training is recommended  to reduce sleep and behavioral problems in children with ADHD.