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The main objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of sleep disorders in treatment-naive children and adolescents with ADHD compared with healthy controls matched for age and gender; and, at the same time, to determine whether stimulant medication (methylphenidate) affects sleep in the same group of children and adolescents with ADHD (naive) after a 3-month treatment. A total of 120 children and adolescents (60 newly diagnosed with ADHD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM IV), and 60 gender- and age-matched controls) were evaluated through objective (actigraphy) and subjective (sleep diary) measures. Later, of those 60 newly diagnosed with ADHD, 30 started pharmacological treatment with methylphenidate with a mean daily dose of 0.58 mg/kg. No significant differences in both measures within the ADHD group after following the 3-month pharmacological treatment with methylphenidate were found. There were neither any significant differences in sleep parameters through objective measures between the medication-naive ADHD group and the control group, while significant differences were found through sleep diary (registered by parents) in latency and efficiency (p =

Over the last 20 years, researchers have been mixing qualitative and quantitative approaches, but mixed methods research represents a new movement that arose in response to the currents of qualitative and quantitative research, considered separately. Little has been published on the use of polar coordinate analysis in psychotherapy. This type of analysis can provide detailed information and integrate the qualitative-quantitative analysis. Even less has been published on the analysis of ASD children’s behavior. The main aim of this study was to implement this mixed methods methodology to analyze patterns of social behaviors in a group of adolescents with ASD during a group social competence intervention program. Moreover, we wanted to see whether an observational scale could be combined fruitfully with polar coordinate analysis and to investigate whether typical ASD behaviors show similar interrelations (prospective and retrospective sequentialities) as behaviors observed in psychotherapy. We used an adaptation from the Social Skills Training Program (UC Davis, California). We observed that each participant took a unique course, increasing or decreasing the number and quality of their social behaviors. In accordance with previous literature, results suggest some increment in the amount of appropriate social conduct. We did not detect a generalized progress pattern but agreed that there were changes between the beginning and end of the intervention. Therefore, we consider that observational methodology is useful in the field of psychotherapy and ASD, offering detailed information about changes and development that cannot be obtained with other traditional measures, such as questionnaires.