***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Although melatonin and cognitive-behavioural therapy have shown efficacy in treating sleep disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders , little is known about their relative or combined efficacy . One hundred and sixty children with autism spectrum disorders , aged 4 - 10 years , suffering from sleep onset insomnia and impaired sleep maintenance , were assigned r and omly to either ( 1 ) combination of controlled-release melatonin and cognitive-behavioural therapy ; ( 2 ) controlled-release melatonin ; ( 3 ) four sessions of cognitive-behavioural therapy ; or ( 4 ) placebo drug treatment condition for 12 weeks in a 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 ratio . Children were studied at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment . Treatment response was assessed with 1-week actigraphic monitoring , sleep diary and sleep question naire . Main outcome measures , derived actigraphically , were sleep latency , total sleep time , wake after sleep onset and number of awakenings . The active treatment groups all result ed in improvements across all outcome measures , with moderate-to-large effect sizes from baseline to a 12-week assessment . Melatonin treatment was mainly effective in reducing insomnia symptoms , while cognitive-behavioural therapy had a light positive impact mainly on sleep latency , suggesting that some behavioural aspects might play a role in determining initial insomnia . The combination treatment group showed a trend to outperform other active treatment groups , with fewer dropouts and a greater proportion of treatment responders achieving clinical ly significant changes ( 63.38 % normative sleep efficiency criterion of > 85 % and 84.62 % , sleep onset latency < 30 min ) . This study demonstrates that adding behavioural intervention to melatonin treatment seems to result in a better treatment response , at least in the short term OBJECTIVE Sleep difficulties are common reasons why parents seek medical intervention in children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASDs ) . We determined whether a pamphlet alone could be used by parents to help their child ’s insomnia . METHODS Thirty-six children with ASD , ages 2 to 10 years , were enrolled . All had prolonged sleep latency confirmed by actigraphy showing a mean sleep latency of 30 minutes or more . Parents were r and omly assigned to receive the  sleep education pamphlet or no intervention . Children wore an actigraphy device to record baseline sleep parameters , with the primary outcome variable being change in sleep latency . Actigraphy data were collected a second time 2 weeks after the parent received the r and omization assignment and analyzed by using Student ’s t test . Parents were also asked a series of questions to gather information about the pamphlet and its usefulness . RESULTS Although participants r and omized to the 2 arms did not differ statistically in age , gender , socioeconomic status , total Children ’s Sleep Habits Question naire score , or actigraphy parameters , some differences may be large enough to affect results . Mean change in sleep-onset latency did not differ between the r and omized groups ( pamphlet versus no pamphlet ) . Parents commented that the pamphlet contained good information , but indicated that it would have been more useful to be given specific examples of how to take the information and put it into practice . CONCLUSIONS A sleep education pamphlet did not appear to improve sleep latency in children with ASDs Objective : Sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) and ADHD and impact adversely on child and parent well-being . The study evaluated the efficacy of a brief behavioral sleep intervention in children with comorbid ADHD – ASD . Method : A sub sample of children with ADHD – ASD ( n = 61 ; 5 - 13 years ; 89 % male ) participating in the Sleeping Sound With ADHD study were included in the current investigation . The sub sample comprised of 28 children r and omized to the sleep intervention group , while 33 were r and omized to usual clinical care .  The intervention consisted of two clinical consultations and a follow-up phone call covering sleep hygiene and st and ardized behavioral strategies . Results : Children with ADHD – ASD who received the intervention had large improvements in sleep problems and moderate improvements in child behavioral functioning 3 and 6 months post-r and omization . Conclusion : These findings suggest that a brief behavioral sleep intervention can improve sleep problems in children with ADHD – ASD OBJECTIVES A large percentage of children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) have bedtime and sleep disturbances . However , the treatment of these disturbances has been understudied . The purpose of our study was to develop a manualized behavioral parent training ( BPT ) program for parents of young children with ASD and sleep disturbances  and to test the feasibility , fidelity , and initial efficacy of the treatment in a small r and omized controlled trial ( RCT ) . PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS Parents of a sample of 40 young children diagnosed with ASD with an average age of 3.5years were enrolled in our study . Participants were r and omized to either the BPT program group or a comparison group who were given nonsleep-related parent education . Each participant was individually administered a 5-session program delivered over the 8-week study . Outcome measures of feasibility , fidelity , and efficacy were collected at weeks 4 and 8 after the baseline time point . Children 's sleep was assessed by parent report and objective ly by actigraphy . RESULTS Of the 20 participants in each group , data were available for 15 participants r and omized to BPT and 18 participants r and omized to the comparison condition . Results supported the feasibility of the manualized parent training program and the comparison program . Treatment fidelity was high for both groups . The BPT program group significantly improved more than the comparison group based on the primary sleep outcome of parent report . There were no objective changes in sleep detected by actigraphy . CONCLUSIONS Our study is one of few RCTs of a BPT program to specifically target sleep disturbances in a well-characterized sample of young children with ASD and to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach . Initial efficacy favored the BPT program over the comparison group and suggested that this manualized parent training approach is worthy of further examination of the efficacy within a larger RCT 
    Output:
    
Here we provide initial synthesis ed quantitative evidence of the effectiveness of behavioural interventions for treating sleep problems in children with ASD .