Research · Updated 9 Oct, 02:12 am IST
Evidence links ADHD to delayed circadian rhythms and suggests chronotherapy helps
Why it matters for readers: It shows that ADHD symptoms may be partly driven by biological clock differences and that sleep-focused treatments can help.
- Many people with ADHD show evening chronotype and delayed biological timing, including delayed dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO).1
- Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent, affecting up to about 80% of adults and up to 82% of children with ADHD in reported studies.1
- Biological markers reported as altered include delayed DLMO (≈45 minutes in children, ≈90 minutes in adults), blunted/delayed cortisol rhythms, reduced pineal volume, and attenuated peripheral clock-gene rhythms.1
- Intervention studies show that melatonin and bright light therapy can advance circadian phase in both children and adults with ADHD and that phase advancement correlates with symptom improvement.1
- Behavioral sleep programs, exercise, and multimodal protocols for evening chronotypes have shown benefit for sleep quality and ADHD symptoms in some trials.1
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