Mind the gap! Sleep problems in children with ADHD – a qualitative analysis of clinician training needs

Smith, Lucy, Daley, David, Cortese, Samuele and Hill, Cathy (2026) Mind the gap! Sleep problems in children with ADHD – a qualitative analysis of clinician training needs. Child: Care, Health and Development, 52 (2), [e70254]. (doi:10.1111/cch.70254).

Abstract

Background: to explore for the first time the knowledge, understanding, and management of sleep problems in children with ADHD amongst clinicians who specialise in sleep and ADHD. The aim was to inform the development of digital sleep awareness training for clinicians.

Method: fifteen clinicians who work with children with ADHD and sleep difficulties in the UK participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Data were analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach to generate and guide the content of digital sleep awareness training.

Results: four core themes were developed: ‘It’s a Problem’ highlighted the extent to which children with ADHD were reported to struggle with sleep difficulties and the impact this has on the child and family. Clinicians also discussed the difficulty they had in finding evidence-based information they could share with caregivers. With little to no formal training, most of the advice they gave came from ‘learning on the job’. When discussing ADHD specific sleep difficulties and disorders, clinicians reflected on their own ‘insight into limitations of knowledge’. ‘Learning for practice’ highlighted the divergence in the methods of learning preferred by clinicians, despite convergence of learning content needed.

Conclusions: sleep problems in children with ADHD are common and clinicians often struggle to support these due to lack of formal training. There is a need for accessible, authoritative training for UK practitioners who work with children with ADHD.

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Contributors

Author: Samuele Cortese

Author: Cathy Hill

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