None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Adolescent depression is both common and harmful, with an estimated 15-20% of adolescents experiencing clinical depression. Depression is strongly associated with disturbed sleep, a relationship that is particularly marked in adolescence. There is accumulating evidence that disturbed sleep can play a precipitating role in the onset of depression, which suggests that treatment of disturbed sleep might improve resilience against the development of depression. However, efforts to clinically target disturbed sleep as a critical mechanism in treatment or prevention are still in their infancy. Improved sleep can also be expected to benefit cardiovascular health. There is a complex relationship between depression, sleep and cardiovascular disease (CVD) across the lifespan, suggesting that early intervention for sleep may impact on a mechanism jointly associated with risk for CVD and depression. Aim: 1. To deliver a brief sleep intervention to adolescents who are experiencing both anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance with the aim of preventing the onset of depression and improving cardiovascular health. Research Questions: 1. Can a brief sleep intervention: a. Improve both subjective and objective indices of sleep quality in at-risk adolescents, and will this improvement persist at two-year follow-up? b. Decrease reports of anxiety and mood symptoms, and prevent the onset of case level depression over a two year follow-up period in at-risk adolescents? c. Improve indices of adolescent cardiovascular health at two-year follow-up? 2. Are benefits to both mental and cardiovascular health mediated by measured improvements in sleep that result from the sleep intervention?
Interventions
The sleep intervention (Sleep SENSE) is a group intervention run over seven weekly sessions of 1.5 hours duration. The groups will include no more than 12 participants and will be led by two researchers, one of whom will be a registered clinical psychologist. Quarterly ‘booster’ sessions will be offered for participants to revise components of the interventions and ask any questions for two years following the intervention.
A summary of the Sleep SENSE session content is as follows:
Session 1
The sleep intervention (Sleep SENSE) is a group intervention run over seven weekly sessions of 1.5 hours duration. The groups will include no more than 12 participants and will be led by two researchers, one of whom will be a registered clinical psychologist. Quarterly ‘booster’ sessions will be offered for participants to revise components of the interventions and ask any questions for two years following the intervention. A summary of the Sleep SENSE session content is as follows: Session 1. Introduction: education about sleep, developing motivation to change. Session 2. Good sleep habits and overcoming barriers to sleep. Session 3. Establishing a regular schedule for sleep and media use at bedtime. Session 4. Mindfulness: Techniques for managing stress and improving sleep. Session 5. Positive Thinking: Managing worries and unhelpful beliefs about sleep. Session 6. Managing worries. Session 7. Your sleep into the future.
Sponsors
University of Melbourne
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
12 Years to 16 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Self-reported sleeping difficulties using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and self-reported anxiety symptoms using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS).
Exclusion criteria
A history of Major Depressive Disorder, bipolar or psychotic disorders prior to entry into the study. A history of significant head injury/ies Inadequate comprehension of English.
Outcome results
None listed