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One third of medication-free children with ADHD experience chronic sleep-onset insomnia. Sleep dysfunction often exacerbates negative daytime behaviors and deficits in cognitive function in these children. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Dutch investigators evaluated the effects of melatonin in 105 medication-free children (age range, 6–12 years) with ADHD who were diagnosed with insomnia at a sleep clinic. The children received either melatonin (3 or 6 mg, based on weight) or placebo at 7:00 PM for 4 weeks.
Most (75%) children had combined-type ADHD with coexisting psychiatric conditions, consistent with community samples of children with ADHD. Sleep-onset insomnia was defined as an average sleep latency exceeding 30 minutes at…