Triple Vulnerability? Circadian Tendency, Sleep Deprivation and Adolescence

This is an interventional treatment trial for Eveningness/Sleep focused on measuring Risk: Emotional, Cognitive, Behavioral, Social, Physical Read More

Inclusion criteria.

1. Scoring within the lowest quartile of the Children's Morningness-Eveningness Preferences Scale (CMEP; 27 or lower) and a 7-day sleep diary showing a sleep onset time of of 10:40 pm or later for 10-13 year olds, 11 pm or later for 14-16 year olds, and 11:20 pm or later for 17-18 year olds at least 3 nights per week. Must have had the current pattern of late bedtimes for the last 3 months.
2. 'At risk' in one of the five health domains: emotional, behavioral, social, physical, and cognitive. Emotional risk will be operationalized as a score of 4 or above on any of the following items on the Child Depression Rating Scale: Difficulty Having Fun, Social Withdrawal, Irritability, Depressed Feelings, Excessive Weeping, or a T-score of 61 or above on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASQ), based on age group (10-11 years, 12-15 year, 16-19 years) using the MASC-10 Profile. Behavioral risk will be operationalized as a Sensation Seeking Scale score greater than 3.93 for males ages 10-13, greater than 3.19 for females 10-13, greater than 4.07 for males 14-18, or greater than 3.19 for females 14-18; taking ADHD medication or Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (KSADs) diagnosis of ADHD; current alcohol or substance abuse; or past alcohol or substance dependence. Social and cognitive risk will be defined as "worse" than others the teen's age in one or more social behavior from Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Section VI or failing one or more academic class from CBCL Section VII, respectively. Physical risk will be operationalized as a Physical Health Questionnaire-15 score of 4 or above, six or more days of school absences, or a BMI above the 85th percentile for the participant's sex and age.
3. Age between 10 and 18 and living with a parent or guardian and and attending a class/job by 9am at least 3 days per week;
4. English language fluency;
5. Able and willing to give informed assent.

Exclusion criteria.

1. An active, progressive physical illness (e.g., cancer, respiratory disorder) or neurological degenerative disease directly related to the onset and course of the sleep disturbance;
2. Evidence from clinical diagnosis or report by youth or parent of sleep apnea, restless legs or periodic limb movements during sleep. Youth presenting with provisional diagnoses of any of these disorders (e.g., sleep apnea) will be referred for a non-study polysomnography (PSG) evaluation at the parent's discretion and will be enrolled only if the diagnosis is disconfirmed;
3. Mental retardation, autism spectrum disorder, or other significantly impairing pervasive developmental disorder. Based on previous recruitment experiences in our youth depression study, we expect this exclusion to be invoked very infrequently (once every few years);
4. Bipolar disorder or schizophrenia or another current Axis I disorder if there is a significant risk of harm and/or decompensation if treatment of that comorbid condition is delayed as a function of participating in any stage of this study. Otherwise, we will allow all other comorbid psychiatric conditions to (i) to maximize representativeness and (ii) because a byproduct may be that the treatment constitutes a helpful 'transdiagnostic' treatment for youth across psychiatric disorders.
5. A medication-free group may be difficult to recruit and would likely be unrepresentative. Hence, participants will not be excluded on the basis of stable use of medications (> 4 weeks). The exception was use of hypnotics and other medications known to alter sleep (e.g., melatonin).
6. History of substance dependence in the past six months;
7. Current suicide risk sufficient to preclude treatment on an outpatient basis.