Dr. Laura Gray, Assistant Professor of Nursing, answers questions about her recent research project.

What is your research topic? Why did you choose it?
Sleep in children with ADHD and their families.

What are some of your most interesting results?
Parent ADHD symptoms can impact children’s sleep hygiene and some objectively measured sleep parameters such as sleep onset latency (time it takes the child to fall asleep) and wake after sleep onset (waking up during the night).

What is the importance/application of your research?
Since about half of children who are diagnosed with ADHD will have a parent with ADHD, it is important for clinicians to recognize the shared behaviors and how they impact child sleep. This may point to a need for specifically tailored sleep education with structured schedules, sticker charts, checklists and other concrete supports.

Where have you presented your research?
Presented at the Southern Nursing Research Society meetings. Published in Pediatric Nursing. I am working with researchers at Vanderbilt to expand sleep education to families of typically developing children.