Childrens experiences of weighted blankets as a sleep intervention – what can we learn from children with ADHD?

The following article is published in Occupational therapy international:

Sleeping difficulties are common in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Meeting children with difficulties with emotional regulation and/or families experiencing struggles in their night-time routines and maladaptive activities connected to sleep is common in pediatric occupational therapy practice.

A sleep intervention with weighted blankets was designed to increase current understanding of using weighted blankets to target children’s individual needs in connection with sleep and daytime functioning. We have recently published an article that is available on the subject in Occupational Therapy International.

An explorative qualitative design in which 26 children with ADHD and sleeping difficulties were included, 6-15 years old, were interviewed about participating in a sleep intervention with weighted blankets.

Children’s experiences revealed that the use of weighted blankets:

1) requires a commitment 2) improves emotional regulation 3) changes sleeping patterns 4) promotes everyday participation

Using weighted blankets promoted children’s management of daily life with ADHD and sleeping difficulties. We can thus improve the assessment and delivery of weighted blankets tailored to individual needs based on increased knowledge from the children themselves.

This article is part of a larger project, and is the first article in my Phd project about weighted blankets effect on children with ADHD.

The article can be found:

https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/oti/2023/1945290.pdf

Please feel free to contact me if you want to connect on the subject of sleep and weighted blankets. Or share your views and thoughts below =)

/Maria Lönn, Occupational Therapist with an interest in mental health and sleep