title: The SENSE Study (Sleep and Education: learning New Skills Early): a community cognitive-behavioural therapy and mindfulness-based sleep intervention to prevent depression and improve cardiac health in adolescence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sleep problems are a major risk factor for the emergence of depression in adolescence. The aim of this study was to test whether an intervention for improving sleep habits could prevent the emergence of depression, and improve well-being and cardiovascular indices amongst at-risk adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A longitudinal randomised controlled trial (RCT) is being conducted across Victorian Secondary Schools in Melbourne, Australia. Adolescents (aged 12-17 years) were defined as at-risk for depression if they reported high levels of anxiety and sleep problems on in-school screening questionnaires and had no prior history of depression (assessed by clinical diagnostic interview). Eligible participants were randomised into either a sleep improvement intervention (based on cognitive behavioral and mindfulness principles) or an active control condition teaching study skills. Both programs consisted of seven 90 minute-long sessions over seven weeks. All participants were required to complete a battery of mood and sleep questionnaires, seven-days of actigraphy, and sleep diary entry at pre- and post-intervention. Participants also completed a cardiovascular assessment and two days of saliva collection at pre-intervention. Participants will repeat all assessments at two-year follow up (ongoing).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This will be the first efficacy trial of a selective group-based sleep intervention for the prevention of depression in an adolescent community sample. If effective, the program could be disseminated in schools and greatly improve health outcomes for anxious adolescents.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612001177842. Date of Registration: 06-Nov-2012.
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. joannamw@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Joanna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Waloszek
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. orli@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Orli
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. jgs@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Julian G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. m.blake3@student.unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. Blake.Laura.M@edumail.vic.gov.au.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences and Statistics, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia. gwm@swin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. m.raniti@student.unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raniti
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7369, USA. rondahl@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Dental School, Oral Health CRC, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. neil.obs@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: O'Brien-Simpson
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. dudgeon@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dudgeon
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. johnat@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trinder
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. nallen3@uoregon.edu.|Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1227, USA. nallen3@uoregon.edu.
authors.forename: Nicholas B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods*; D009520:New Zealand; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires