Effekt på søvn ved tidlig intervensjon på angstproblematikk hos ungdom.
Forskere fra NORCE, Universitetet i Bergen, Modum bad, Universitetet i Oslo, Sørlandet sykehus, Stavanger universitetssykehus og Haukeland universitetssykehus har i denne studien undersøkt effekten av tidlig intervensjon for angst på søvn hos 313 ungdommer med angstsymptomer rekruttert av skolehelsetjenesten. Deltakerne ble randomisert i tre grupper: en kort eller en standardlengde gruppebasert intervensjon med kognitiv atferdsterapi (GCBT), eller en ventelistekontrollgruppe. Forskerne konkluderer med at det bør rettes økt oppmerksomhet på søvnproblemer hos ungdom med angstproblematikk som behandles med GCBT ved tidlig intervensjon.
Publisert 20.10.2022
Bente Storm Mowatt Haugland, Mari Hysing, Asle Hoffart, Åshild Tellefsen Haaland, Jon Fauskanger Bjaastad, Gro Janne Wergeland, Valborg Baste
Studien er publisert i European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
The potential effect of early intervention for anxiety on sleep outcomes was examined in a sample of adolescents with anxiety (N = 313, mean 14.0 years, SD = 0.84, 84% girls, 95.7% Norwegians). Participants were randomized to one of three conditions: a brief or a standard-length cognitive-behavioral group-intervention (GCBT), or a waitlist control-group (WL). Interventions were delivered at schools, during school hours. Adolescents with elevated anxiety were recruited by school health services. Questionnaires on self-reported anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and sleep characteristics were administered at pre- and post-intervention, post-waitlist, and at 1-year follow-up. Adolescents reported reduced insomnia (odds ratio (OR) = 0.42, p < 0.001) and shorter sleep onset latency (d = 0.27, p < 0.001) from pre- to post-intervention. For insomnia, this effect was maintained at 1-year follow-up (OR = 0.54, p = 0.020). However, no effect of GCBT on sleep outcomes was found when comparing GCBT and WL. Also, no difference was found in sleep outcomes between brief and standard-length interventions. Adolescents defined as responders (i.e., having improved much or very much on anxiety after GCBT), did not differ from non-responders regarding sleep outcomes. Thus, anxiety-focused CBT, delivered in groups, showed no effect on sleep outcomes. Strategies specifically targeting sleep problems in adolescents should be included in GCBT when delivered as early intervention for adolescents with elevated anxiety