Sleep disturbances and disorders have been linked with increased suicidality. Research is just beginning to explore using sleep interventions to reduce suicidality, but until now has not considered...Show moreSleep disturbances and disorders have been linked with increased suicidality. Research is just beginning to explore using sleep interventions to reduce suicidality, but until now has not considered how sleep and suicidality change across the lifespan, and how that may impact the effectiveness of interventions. This study is the first meta-analysis examining whether sleep interventions are effective for reducing suicidality, and whether age has an impact on outcomes. A search was conducted on February 8th, 2022, using PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Article selection and data extraction was performed using the Covidence Systematic Review software. Twenty-one articles were included in this study. Sleep interventions were categorized as cognitive behavioural therapies (CBTs), circadian rhythm therapies (CRTs) and pharmacological therapies (PTs). Age groups were defined as adolescents (15-18), young adult college students (18-24), and adults (18-64). Sleep interventions overall had a small, significant effect size in reducing suicidality. CBTs and CRTs significantly reduced suicidality with small and medium effect sizes, but PTs did not. When stratified by age group, results found that sleep interventions overall significantly reduced suicidality in adolescents and adults with medium effect sizes, but there was no significant reduction in young adults. The results of this study suggest that sleep interventions may reduce suicidality and serve as a versatile and transdiagnostic treatment approach that deserves more focus. It also provides preliminary evidence that age may be a possible moderator for treatment effectiveness, and that future studies should include age as a moderator.Show less
Sleep problems in children are common and can affect their health. This study examined whether sleep duration mediates the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems in children...Show moreSleep problems in children are common and can affect their health. This study examined whether sleep duration mediates the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems in children from nine to eleven years. The study consisted of a research among a group of 482 children, 220 boys and 260 girls (two unknown). The mean age of the children was 10.5 years (SD = 0.83). Their parents were asked to fill out the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which were used to measure sleep disturbances and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems of the children respectively. In addition, parents kept an online sleep diary for a week to collect information about the sleep duration of the child. Regression analyses showed a significant association between sleep problems and both internalizing (β = .24) and externalizing behavioral problems (β = .26), as well as a significant negative association between sleep problems and sleep duration (β = -.21). Sleep duration and - both internalizing and externalizing - behavioral problems were not significantly related. The results therefore suggest that sleep duration did not mediate the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems. The overall findings highlight the importance that parents should be aware of sleep problems underlying the behavioral problems of their child. Besides, sleep problems may serve as a warning for a higher risk of developing behavior problems. The findings of this study may be useful in interventions to treat, control or prevent sleep and behavioral problems. It should however be noted that other factors could influence the association between sleep problems and behavioral problems and more research is needed to further explore this association.Show less
With a prevalence of 25% - 40%, sleep disturbances are a common problem among youths. Research in adolescents and adults shows correlation between sleep problems and chronotype(individual...Show moreWith a prevalence of 25% - 40%, sleep disturbances are a common problem among youths. Research in adolescents and adults shows correlation between sleep problems and chronotype(individual differences in circadian phase preference, e.g. eveningness), with more eveningness relating to higher reports of sleep problems. However, less is known about this relationship in children. This study investigates the association between children’s chronotype(morning, intermediate, evening type) and sleep duration as well as sleep disturbances as reported by parents. Data has been collected in 9 to 12 year old children (n = 98) using the Children’s Chronotype Questionnaire (CCTQ), the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and a 7-nights sleep diary. The analyses show that evening types (n = 15, M = 47.47) have significant more sleep problems than intermediate (n= 27, M = 39.11), p = .003 or morning types (n = 27, M = 35.70), p < .01. To be more specific, evening types have more problems with initiating and maintaining sleep (p < .01) and more excessive daytime somnolence (p < .01). No significant difference has been found between chronotypes in sleep duration. The main conclusion is that evening types among children have a higher risk of sleep problems, although sleep duration is similar to that in other chronotypes. This knowledge confirms the important role of chronotype and implicates that more focus on the characteristics of chronotypes is necessary in the clinical field.Show less
