Psychiatry Res. 2025 Nov 24;356:116860. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116860. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Sleep problems are one of the key, but insufficiently addressed, health issues in children and adolescents. 40-50 % of youth are thought to be impacted by them. This review examines the connections between sleep disorders (SD) and mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, and eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, night eating disorder, and aversive-restrictive food intake disorder, revealing the interrelationships between these phenomena. Various SDs, such as insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disorders, and chronotype, are investigated. SD can be correlated with and caused by the development of mental health disorders, as well as be a direct consequence or exacerbating factor. During adolescence, sleep disruption exacerbates heterogeneously the susceptibility to disordered mental health. It hinders its treatment, leading to chronic symptoms and a significant deterioration in quality of life, creating a vicious cycle. We explore and attempt to integrate the neurobiological pathophysiology of disorders and their connections to sociobehavioral concepts of psychopathology in this article. This comprehensive review provides an overview of the most recent findings on SD, with emphasis on how they affect mental health in childhood and adolescence. Additionally, it highlights the use of pharmacological and behavioral approaches to the treatment of insomnia, with and without comorbidities. The study aims to encourage clinicians to broaden their awareness of the interdisciplinary nature of sleep and mental health, which is essential to the care of young patients.
PMID:41351893 | DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116860
