Investigating a sleep intervention for adolescents attending CAMHS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of a sleep intervention for adolescents with co-morbid insomnia and mental health difficulties.
IRAS ID
322251
Contact name
Stephanie McCrory
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Strathclyde
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
Sleep problems have a significant detrimental impact on physical health, development, and functioning and are commonly experienced co-morbidly with other mental health problems. Therefore, many adolescents who are attending Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), also experience significant sleep disturbances. However, sleep problems are rarely addressed within CAMHS due to lack of awareness of the importance of sleep and/or training in effective treatments. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended approach for treating insomnia in both adult and adolescent populations. Despite this, there has been limited research investigating the delivery of CBT-I interventions to adolescents attending CAMHS, and to our knowledge, no such studies exist within the Scottish context. The Strathclyde intervention to encourage good sleep health for teenagers (SIESTA) is a CBT-I intervention to improve adolescent sleep. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of SIESTA for adolescents attending CAMHS. Staff within CAMHS will receive training to deliver SIESTA to groups of adolescents with co-morbid mental health and sleep problems. The following feasibility benchmarks will be assessed: recruitment and retention, participant attendance, facilitator training, intervention fidelity and participant adherence. Acceptability will be measured via qualitative interviews with participants and CAMHS staff. Baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up assessments will be conducted to assess preliminary effectiveness of the intervention for improving sleep and mental health. This research is necessary to inform future trials of SIESTA and to support its wider implementation within CAMHS.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 1
REC reference
23/WS/0083
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion