STTAMP: Sleep Tracking & Treatment for Adolescent Mental Health
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving adolescent mental health by automating and optimising remote treatment using STTAMP (Sleep Tracking & Treatment for Adolescent Mental Health Problems).
IRAS ID
321940
Contact name
Lucy Yardley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
ISRCTN14480620, ISRCTN
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
We aim to create and evaluate an online support programme that will use children and young people’s (CYP) smartphones to estimate sleep disturbance and provide advice on sleep hygiene. Most CYP with mental health problems don’t get the help they need. Sleep problems (also called insomnia symptoms) can be both a cause and a consequence of mental health problems. Insomnia symptoms are very common when CYP are becoming anxious, depressed or even suicidal.
The University of Bristol have developed an Android application (app) that estimates sleep disturbance. We want to combine this with two web-based applications (app) using CYP’s smartphones. The sleep app will run on smartphones using the Android operating system, and sleep disturbance is based on screen on/off events and an accelerometer to measure the movement. The first web-based app consists of audio-visual content that will encourage CYP to engage in standard insomnia prevention techniques. The second web-based app will be an adapted version of the highly effective adult SHUTi program. We need to ensure that these web-based apps are relevant to young people from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds.
We have worked with CYP and creative teams to co-produce short audio-visual content to better support CYP (aged 14-18) improve their sleep. We have also worked with CYP to adapt SHUTi, an internet-delivered cognitive behavioural programme (iCBT) for insomnia symptoms. We aim to offer the support programme to 1000 young people (aged 14-18 years) to test and improve it. Using questionnaires and qualitative interviews, we will learn from their experiences over a 2-year period. We will also aim to link our study data to NHS and school data to see if the support programme improves health and school outcomes.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NW/0129
Date of REC Opinion
28 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion