Emerging encouraging evidence showed that sleep focused treatment can simultaneously improve sleep and depression in adult with comorbid conditions. Although these favorable changes in depressed adults is encouraging, little is known in the potential efficacy of CBT-I in altering depression trajectory in adolescent population. This current study aims to compare the effect of digitally delivered, mood enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (M-dCBT-I) and standard digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (dCBT-I) in improving depressive symptoms in adolescents, and to examine the potential sustained treatment effect in mood outcomes following M-dCBT-I or dCBT-I treatment.
Adolescence is a critical transitional stage accompanied by the emergence of mental disorders, with major depressive disorder (MDD) being the most common mental disorder. The point prevalence of depression ranges from 3% to 18% across different studies. In addition, according to our previous studies, approximately 10% of adolescents experience insomnia disorders, and 36% have insomnia symptoms. Adolescent concurrently experiencing sleep and mood problems are typically at a higher risk of adverse health outcomes. This particular group is usually much more difficult to treat, with a poorer prognosis, suggesting that this group maybe in particular need for effective treatment. There is accumulating evidence that adolescent sleep and mood problems can be treated successfully using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is one of the most extensively evaluated non-pharmacological approach for managing either depression or insomnia symptoms in adolescents. Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression (CBT-D) involves psychoeducation and addresses cognitive restructuring for unrealistic thinking contribute to depressed mood and behavioral strategies to increase pleasant activities. While cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line treatment in managing adult insomnia, it has gained increasing empirical evidence in managing adolescent insomnia. The high comorbidity of insomnia and depression calls for the need for addressing both problems due to the fact that residual insomnia or residual depressive symptoms could further hasten a relapse to the other comorbid disorder. In addition, depression becomes more difficult to treat in the presence of insomnia. In fact, there has, however, been emerging encouraging evidence showing that sleep focused treatment can simultaneously improve sleep and depression in adult with comorbid conditions. Although these favorable changes in depressed adults is encouraging, little is known in the potential efficacy of CBT-I in altering depression trajectory in adolescent population. This current study aims to compare the effect of digitally delivered, mood enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (M-dCBT-I) and standard digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (dCBT-I) in improving depressive symptoms in adolescents, and to examine the potential sustained treatment effect in mood outcomes following M-dCBT-I or dCBT-I treatment. Primary outcomes include the depressive symptoms as measured by PHQ-9, while secondary outcomes include clinician rated depression scale (HRSD), insomnia (ISI), sleep-related measures (Sleep diary variables, dysfunctional sleep belief), daytime sleepiness, anxiety (HADS), quality of life (Kidscreen-27). Outcome measurement will be conducted at baseline, postintervention, 6-month and 12-month follow up.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
343
This standard digital CBT-I intervention will cover (1) psycho-education about sleep, circadian and sleep hygiene education, (2) stimulus control, (3) sleep restriction, (4) relaxation techniques, (5) structured worry time, (6) cognitive restructuring (targeting sleep-related dysfunctional cognitions), and (7) relapse prevention. In order to have comparable dosage as modified CBT-I, the treatment will be dispersed to 8 modules (8-week) which is still in the range of standard CBT-I duration (usually last for 6-8weeks).
Additional depression specific components will be added to the standard CBT-I, including behavioral activation and problem solving.
Department of Psychiatry, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong
RECRUITINGDepressive symptoms
The severity of depressive symptoms as measured by Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9): locally validated in adolescents and commonly used self-administered questionnaire to assess depressive symptoms and severity. Scores range from 0 to 27, with higher score indicate higher level of depression.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Assessor-rated depressive symptomatology
Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), a 17-item clinician-administered instrument, will be used to assess depressive symptomatology. Scores range from 0 to 52, with higher score indicate higher level of depression.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Overall severity of depression symptoms
Improvement of depression, in reference to the severity prior to the start of the treatment, will be rated using the Clinical Global Improvement Scale (CGI-I), on a scale of 1 (very much improved) to 7 (very much worse).
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Severity of insomnia symptoms
Severity of insomnia symptoms will be measured by Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). ISI is a self-report measure designed to assess the nature, severity and impact of insomnia, with a higher total score suggesting more severe insomnia symptoms. Scores range from 0 to 28.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Sleep-wake pattern
Prospective 7-day Sleep diary will be used to record sleep-wake pattern including sleep duration, wakeup time, bedtime and sleep latency.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Sleep-related beliefs and cognitions
Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale (DBAS) will be used to measure faulty sleep-related beliefs and cognitions, which are cognitive aspects typically involved in the maintenance of insomnia. The total score is calculated from the average score of all the items on the scale and could range from 0 to 10.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Daytime sleepiness
8-item Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS) will be used to assess adolescents' daytime sleepiness in school children and adolescents. It is an 8-item inventory designed for use with school children and youths, with a higher score indicating greater sleepiness. Scores ranged from 0 to 32.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Anxiety and depression symptoms
Cantonese-Chinese version Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) will be used to assess anxiety and depression. It has been validated in the community-based sample of adolescents in Hong Kong. A higher total score of each subscale represents a greater severity of depression/anxiety. The total score for each subscale ranges from 0 to 21.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
Quality of life by KIDSCREEN-27
KIDSCREEN-27 health questionnaire for children and young people will be used to measure quality of life. A grand total score can be calculated by summing up the five sub scores. In all cases, a higher score represents higher perceived well-being.
Time frame: Baseline, Postintervention (8 weeks), 6-month follow up and 12-month follow up
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