Anne Marie Meijer*, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Ed Jan De Bruin, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Julia Felicitas Kaufmann-Dewald, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University and University of Amsterdam, Munchen, Germany Track: Research Presentation Topic: Mobile & Tablet Health Applications Presentation Type: Rapid-Fire Presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: Mermaid Room: Room 3 - Upper River Room Date: 2013-09-23 04:00 PM – 06:00 PM Last modified: 2013-09-25

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Background: Sleep problems, including insufficient and/or poor sleep, are common and persistent during adolescence with estimates of prevalence ranging from 25 – 40% (Owens, 2005). Sleep problems tend to persist over time and into adulthood, often causing chronic sleep reduction and resulting into severe daytime impairments. Longitudinal studies indicate that insufficient sleep is a potential risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms and cognitive dysfunctioning. Considering the high prevalence of sleep problems in adolescents and its negative consequences, management of chronic sleep reduction appears a very important topic. The aims of this study are (1) to develop an individualized system of gradual sleep extension based on personal sleep parameters, and (2) to implement this system into a sleep-app for use on smart-phones, tablets and online websites.
Method: Study phase 1 involved the development of a questionnaire for assessing chronic sleep reduction in adolescents and young adults, resulting in the Chronic Sleep reduction Questionnaire (Meijer, 2008; Dewald et al., 2012). Study phase 2 consisted of a randomised controlled trial, in which a personalized system of gradual sleep extension was developed and its effect on adolescent sleep and functioning was tested. Study phase 3 consist of the development of a sleep-app which is based on the studies in phase 1 and phase 2. With the sleep-app adolescents and young adults can examine by means of a short questionnaire whether they have chronic sleep reduction and if so, may decide to use the sleep-app to improve their sleep. They will then be asked to complete a sleep-log during one week after which they receive a personalized sleep schedule for 3 weeks. Each day they will fill out their sleep logs and answer some questions concerning quality of life. Directly after completing the questionnaires, a graphical presentation of their data will be shown. At the end of the 3-week period participants receive a report concerning the progress of their sleep. They will also be asked if the researchers might use their data for further research and upgrading of the sleep program.
Results: The RCT on gradual sleep extension in adolescents showed that adolescents in the experimental group had longer sleep times, an earlier sleep onset, and less sleep problems compared to youngsters in the control group (Dewald et al., 2013). Moreover, cognitive functioning and also depressive symptoms improved in the adolescents in the experimental group. Furthermore a preliminary design and feasibility test of the sleep-app will be presented.
Conclusion: Gradual personalized sleep extension shows great promise for the management of chronic sleep reduction in adolescents and young adults. Application of this intervention through a sleep-app can potentially reach large numbers of these age groups and help ameliorate negative results from chronic sleep reduction and improve quality of life both in the short and long term.