The sensitivity of a PDA‐based psychomotor vigilance task to sleep restriction in 10‐year‐old girls

Summary The impact of sleep restriction on sustained attention in children has not been well quantified. To address this shortcoming, this study tested the sensitivity of a 5‐min personal digital assistant‐psychomotor vigilance task (PDA‐PVT) to sleep restriction in 14 female children [mean (SD) age = 10.6 ± 0.3 years]. The children underwent PDA‐PVT trials at regular intervals both before and after a sleep restriction (5 h time‐in‐bed) and a control (10 h time‐in‐bed) condition. Sleep restriction was associated with longer mean response times and increased number of lapses. These results are consistent with findings in the adult literature suggesting an association between inadequate sleep and impaired functioning. In conclusion, the 5‐min PDA‐PVT is sensitive to sleep restriction in pre‐adolescent female children supporting the utility of the PDA‐PVT for examining the impact of sleep deprivation on daytime functioning in children.