This study looked at whether adults with more ADHD symptoms also had more sleep problems. It used data from a Dutch general population survey (4,618 adults, aged 23 to 70 at the time of measurement). ADHD symptoms were self-reported on a screening questionnaire, not diagnosed by a doctor. Most people had no symptoms or only a few. A small group had a level the screener treats as clinically relevant (6%, or 236 people).
Adults in that group reported significant insomnia more often than adults with no symptoms (43% versus 18%). After the researchers adjusted for things like physical health, lifestyle, and mood, anxiety and substance use disorders, the higher insomnia risk held (about two and a half times higher). They were also more likely to sleep 6 hours or less a night, and much more likely to sleep 10 hours or more, though the estimate for long sleep was very uncertain (a wide range from about 2 to 17 times higher). The link grew stronger as symptom levels rose. Both attention and hyperactivity symptoms were tied to insomnia and short sleep, but only attention symptoms were tied to long sleep.
Because everyone was measured at a single point in time, the study cannot show what causes what.
The numbers Stats and what the terms mean
The statistics behind the plain-language claims above.
- Wynchank, 2018: higher insomnia risk after adjusting for other factors, OR 2.66.
What the terms mean:
- OR (odds ratio) compares the odds of an outcome between two groups. 1 means no difference, above 1 means higher odds, and below 1 means lower odds.
Source: Wynchank D, ten Have M, Bijlenga D, et al.. The Association Between Insomnia and Sleep Duration in Adults With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Results From a General Population Study. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (2018). doi:10.5664/jcsm.6976