Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention in Youth: Long-Term Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Eli S Susman; Estephania Ovalle Patino; Sondra S Tiab; Lu Dong; Nicole B Gumport; Laurel D Sarfan; Stephen P Hinshaw; Allison G Harvey

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2024.05.001

Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention in Youth: Long-Term Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 May 6:S0890-8567(24)00240-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.05.001. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Eli S Susman¹, Estephania Ovalle Patino¹, Sondra S Tiab¹, Lu Dong², Nicole B Gumport³, Laurel D Sarfan¹, Stephen P Hinshaw⁴, Allison G Harvey⁵

Affiliations

¹ University of California, Berkeley, California.
² Dong is with RAND, Santa Monica, California.
³ Stanford University, Stanford, California.
⁴ University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
⁵ University of California, Berkeley, California. Electronic address: aharvey@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 38729603
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.05.001

Abstract

Objective: This preregistered study compared the effects of the Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention (TranS-C) to Psychoeducation about sleep, health, yoga, meditation, and outdoor appreciation activities (PE) on sleep and circadian functioning, health risk, and sleep-health behaviors, at long-term follow-up (LTFU), an average of 8 years following treatment. We also examined if more sleep-health behaviors at LTFU were associated with better sleep and circadian functioning at LTFU and if better sleep and circadian functioning were associated with lower health risk at LTFU.

Method: At baseline, we randomized adolescents with an eveningness chronotype to TranS-C (n=89) or PE (n=87). Of this sample, we assessed 106 young adults (mean age at follow-up=22.5 years; n=55 from TranS-C; n=51 from PE) an average of eight years following treatment.

Results: Despite TranS-C (vs. PE) sustaining improvement in circadian functioning through 12-month follow-up, at LTFU, there were no significant differences between the conditions on any outcome-including sleep and circadian functioning, risks in five health domains indexed by self-report and ecological momentary assessment, sleep-health behaviors, and physical measurements. Across both conditions, measures indicating poorer sleep and circadian functioning were associated with higher health risk across multiple domains, and more sleep-health behaviors were associated with lower levels of eveningness at LTFU.

Conclusion: The results provide an important window into the influence of development on long-term outcomes for youth and raise the possibility that interventions for youth could be enhanced with a focus on habit formation.

Keywords: eveningness; habit formation; psychopathology; sleep; young adults.