title: Pilot study of a mindfulness-based, multi-component, in-school group sleep intervention in adolescent girls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Existing literature links poor sleep and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. This pilot study aimed to develop a practical method through which a program to improve sleep could reach adolescents in need and to examine the feasibility of a mindfulness-based, multi-component group sleep intervention using sleep and anxiety as outcome measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-two grade 9 students (aged 13-15) at a girls' school were screened with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Ten participants with self-reported poor sleep were enrolled into a six-session program based on Bootzin & Stevens, with added stress/anxiety-specific components. Sessions covered key aspects of basic mindfulness concepts and practice, sleep hygiene, sleep scheduling, evening/daytime habits, stimulus control, skills for bedtime worries and healthy attitudes to sleep. Treatment changes were measured by pre-post scores on the PSQI, SCAS and 7-day actigraphy-measured sleep.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The program demonstrated high acceptability, with a completion rate of 90%. Based on effect-size analysis, participants showed significant improvement on objective sleep onset latency (SOL), sleep efficiency and total sleep time; actigraphy data also showed significantly earlier bedtime, rise time and smaller day-to-day bedtime variation. Post-intervention global PSQI scores were significantly lower than that of pre-intervention, with significant improvement in subjective SOL, sleep quality and sleep-related daytime dysfunction. There were small improvements on some subscales of the SCAS, but change on its total score was minimal.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A mindfulness-based, multi-component, in-school group sleep intervention following brief screening is feasible, and has the potential to improve sleep. Its impact on anxiety needs further investigation.
authors: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. beib@unimelb.edu.au
authors: Bei
authors: B
authors: Bei
authors: Michelle L
authors: ML
authors: Byrne
authors: Clare
authors: C
authors: Ivens
authors: Joanna
authors: J
authors: Waloszek
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Woods
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Dudgeon
authors: Greg
authors: G
authors: Murray
authors: Christian L
authors: CL
authors: Nicholas
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Trinder
authors: Nicholas B
authors: NB
authors: Allen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D012574:Schools; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000628:therapy*