TY - JOUR
T1 - Improvements in sleep problems and their associations with mental health symptoms
T2 - A study of children and adolescents participating in a digital mental health intervention
AU - Lawrence-Sidebottom, Darian
AU - Huffman, Landry Goodgame
AU - Beam, Aislinn
AU - Parikh, Amit
AU - Guerra, Rachael
AU - Roots, Monika
AU - Huberty, Jennifer
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/1/1
Y1 - 2024/1/1
N2 - Objective: A growing number of youth are utilizing digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) for treatment of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Although these mental health symptoms are closely related to sleep problems, it is unknown whether nonsleep DMHIs indirectly confer improvements in sleep. Using retrospective data, the current study assesses (1) whether youth sleep problems improve over participation in a nonsleep DMHI, and (2) whether mental health symptom severity and improvement are correlated with sleep problem severity over time. Methods: Sleep problems and mental health symptoms were assessed every 30 days among children (ages 5–12) and adolescents (ages 13–17) participating in a pediatric digital mental health intervention (DMHI; N = 1219). Results: Children and adolescents with elevated sleep problems (39.3%; n = 479) were older (P <.001), more predominantly female (P <.001), and more likely to have elevated anxiety (P <.001), depressive (P <.001) and inattention symptoms (P =.001), as compared to those with nonelevated sleep problems (60.7%; n = 740). From the baseline to last assessment, 77.3% (n = 269) of members with elevated sleep problems exhibited improvements, with sleep problems decreasing significantly over each month in care (P <.001). Members with improvements in anxiety, depressive, and/or ADHD symptoms had larger improvements in sleep over time compared to their peers with no improvement in their mental health symptoms (Months in care*Change type: P <.001 for all). Conclusions: Our results provide preliminary evidence that participation in a pediatric DMHI is associated with improvements in sleep problems, even when youth are not being treated directly for sleep problems. These findings highlight a valuable secondary benefit of participating in mental health care within pediatric DMHIs and warrant further experimental research.
AB - Objective: A growing number of youth are utilizing digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) for treatment of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Although these mental health symptoms are closely related to sleep problems, it is unknown whether nonsleep DMHIs indirectly confer improvements in sleep. Using retrospective data, the current study assesses (1) whether youth sleep problems improve over participation in a nonsleep DMHI, and (2) whether mental health symptom severity and improvement are correlated with sleep problem severity over time. Methods: Sleep problems and mental health symptoms were assessed every 30 days among children (ages 5–12) and adolescents (ages 13–17) participating in a pediatric digital mental health intervention (DMHI; N = 1219). Results: Children and adolescents with elevated sleep problems (39.3%; n = 479) were older (P <.001), more predominantly female (P <.001), and more likely to have elevated anxiety (P <.001), depressive (P <.001) and inattention symptoms (P =.001), as compared to those with nonelevated sleep problems (60.7%; n = 740). From the baseline to last assessment, 77.3% (n = 269) of members with elevated sleep problems exhibited improvements, with sleep problems decreasing significantly over each month in care (P <.001). Members with improvements in anxiety, depressive, and/or ADHD symptoms had larger improvements in sleep over time compared to their peers with no improvement in their mental health symptoms (Months in care*Change type: P <.001 for all). Conclusions: Our results provide preliminary evidence that participation in a pediatric DMHI is associated with improvements in sleep problems, even when youth are not being treated directly for sleep problems. These findings highlight a valuable secondary benefit of participating in mental health care within pediatric DMHIs and warrant further experimental research.
KW - Sleep problems
KW - adolescence
KW - anxiety
KW - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
KW - depression
KW - digital mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192840873&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85192840873&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/20552076241249928
DO - 10.1177/20552076241249928
M3 - Article
C2 - 38736734
AN - SCOPUS:85192840873
SN - 2055-2076
VL - 10
JO - Digital Health
JF - Digital Health
ER -