Researchers at The University of Western Australia are looking for children aged between five and 12 years who have a diagnosis of ADHD and experience sleep difficulties to take part in a study.
The project will use a behaviour-based sleep intervention to determine whether online treatment is as effective as receiving the treatment in-person at a clinic.
Before the beginning of the intervention, parents will also be asked to attend an introductory meeting to discuss the project and ask questions.
Children and their parents will then participate in two brief and free sessions, about 50 minutes long, designed to provide guidance and behaviour-based techniques to improve sleep.
Children involved in the study will complete three stages of sleep data collection, before the intervention, one week after completion of the intervention, and three months following the intervention.
The intervention will be conducted by a provisional psychologist under supervision by experienced clinical psychologists Associate Professor Carmela Pestell, Dr Andrew Sheridan and Professor Romola Bucks, from UWA’s School of Psychological Science.
PhD student Maya Malkani, also from UWA’s School of Psychological Science, said the study aimed to ease bedtime anxiety and improve sleep time for children by reducing awakenings and their duration as well as taking less time to fall asleep.
Participants in the study will be randomly allocated to either attend the clinic, located at the Robin Winkler Clinic at UWA, or receive the treatment online, via Zoom.
If you, or anyone you know, may be interested in participating in this research, please contact maya.malkani@research.uwa.edu.au.
