Issue 35.2 SPRING 2026
Sleep Disturbances Shape Recovery After Paediatric Brain Injury
Sleep problems are increasingly recognized as an important factor affecting recovery after traumatic brain injury in adults. However, their prevalence and clinical impact among children following pediatric brain injury remain less well understood.
Researchers investigated sleep disturbances in children who experienced mild traumatic brain injury and compared them with two control groups. The aim was to determine whether sleep problems were more common after pediatric brain injury and whether these disturbances were associated with behavioral symptoms, cognitive performance, or structural brain changes.
Study Findings The multisite cohort study analyzed 573 children, including 191 children with mild traumatic brain injury, 191 typically developing children, and 191 children with orthopedic injury controls.
Children with pediatric brain injury were more likely to develop new clinical sleep disturbances compared with controls. Newly emerging sleep problems occurred in 29 children with mTBI( 15.2 %), compared with 22 of 191 children( 11.5 %) in the typically developing group and 19 of 191 children( 9.9 %) in the orthopedic injury group. Chronic sleep disturbances were also more frequent among children with pediatric brain injury, affecting 41 children( 21.5 %), compared with 25 children( 13.1 %) in each control group.
Total sleep disturbance scores were significantly elevated compared with the typically developing group but not the orthopedic injury group. Behavioral symptoms were also higher and were closely associated with sleep disturbances.
Clinical Implications for Paediatric Brain Injury Recovery The findings suggest that sleep disturbances may represent a modifiable risk factor during pediatric brain injury recovery. In particular, newly emerging sleep problems appear strongly linked to behavioral difficulties, highlighting sleep management as a potential early intervention strategy.
Clinicians may therefore benefit from routinely assessing sleep disturbances during pediatric brain injury recovery. Early identification and treatment of sleep problems could help reduce behavioral complications and improve long term outcomes. g
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