Joining Forces to Prevent Insomnia in Teens

In collaboration with HKU’s Department of Psychology and the School of Psychology of Quebec’s Université Laval, CUHK’s Department of Psychiatry has successfully conducted the world’s first randomised controlled trial of a brief insomnia prevention programme for at-risk adolescents. Results show that the programme reduced the risk of insomnia disorder over the 1-year follow-up period by 71% while also decreasing daytime sleepiness and leading to better sleep hygiene.

As they undergo dramatic physical and psychological changes, adolescents are prone to sleep disorders as well as mental and physical illnesses. Those with a family history of insomnia are at even higher risk, being three times more likely to fall victim to the disorder. 10 to 36% of all adolescents are affected by insomnia, which tends to become chronic, causing great distress and threatening their health.

Building on the cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), which has proved to be effective in adults, a team comprising experts from the three universities devised the world’s first insomnia prevention programme for adolescents. As Dr. Shirley Li (4^th right) of HKU’s Department of Psychology explained, the programme targeted such factors causing insomnia as poor sleep hygiene and distorted cognition towards sleep. Participants were asked to chart and review their sleep schedule every week, and behavioural and cognitive strategies were prescribed to improve their sleep hygiene and address their negative thoughts or worries about sleep.

With a completion rate of 94%, the programme has proved to be feasible and acceptable to adolescents, said Dr. Rachel Chan (2^nd right) of CUHK’s Department of Psychiatry. ‘This study provides promising and novel evidence that insomnia can be prevented in at-risk adolescents through a brief cognitive behavioural prevention programme,’ she added.

The results of this study have been published in Pediatrics.