Sleep disorders predict the one-year onset, persistence, but not remission of psychotic experiences in 10-11 year old children: a longitudinal analysis of the ABCD cohort data
AbstractSleep problems have been reliably associated with psychotic experiences in adults and have been suggested as target for intervention. However, the relationship between sleep disorder and psychotic experiences in children has not been extensively studied despite the potential for guiding intervention. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) dataset, containing baseline and one-year follow-up data of over 11,000 10-11 year olds, was utilised to investigate this relationship. More specifically, a set of pre-registered multi-level regression models were applied to test whether a) baseline sleep disorder predicts baseline psychotic experiences cross-sectionally; b) baseline sleep disorder predicts psychotic experiences one year later; c) the persistence of sleep disorder predicts the persistence psychotic experiences at one year; d) the remission of sleep disorder predicts the remission of psychotic experiences. After controlling for potential confounders, sleep disorder was associated with psychotic experiences cross-sectionally (OR=1.40, 95% CI 1.20-1.63), at one-year follow-up (OR=1.32, 95% CI 1.11-1.57), and the persistence of sleep disorder predicted the persistence of psychotic experiences (OR=1.72, 95% CI 1.44-2.04). However, remission of sleep problems did not predict remission of psychotic experiences (OR=1.041, 95% CI 0.80-1.35). In all models where an association was found, sleep was one of the two strongest predictors of psychotic experiences (with stimulant medication being the other). The results indicate that sleep problems in children are common and strongly associated with psychotic experiences but the lack of co-remission raises questions about the mechanism of association. However given existing evidence in adults, further investigation and interest in sleep as a preventative mental health intervention in this age group is warranted.