Supporting healthy sleep: a qualitative assessment of adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parents.

OBJECTIVE: Poor sleep health is common in adolescence due to a combination of physiological, psychosocial, and environmental factors. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may be at increased risk for poor sleep health due to physiological and behavioral aspects of diabetes and its management. This article describes a qualitative analysis of interviews with adolescents with T1D and their parents about facilitators and barriers to sleep health and family strategies to balance teens' sleep with competing demands. METHODS: Separate interviews were conducted with 20 adolescents with T1D and 20 parents. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Participants were on average 15.8 ± 1.2 years old, 45% female, and 85% non-Hispanic White. RESULTS: Overnight diabetes management was the most frequently reported barrier to sleep. Families reported different strategies for taking responsibility of overnight diabetes management, which differentially impacted sleep. Families worked to balance diabetes management and sleep with other aspects of adolescent life, including school demands, social activities, and electronics use. Facilitators to healthy sleep identified by families included diabetes assistive technology and maintaining a consistent sleep/wake schedule. Both adolescents and parents voiced beliefs that their diabetes care team is not able to help with sleep health. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric psychologists should be aware of the specific sleep barriers experienced by adolescents with T1D and their parents. A focus on overnight diabetes management strategies may facilitate psychologists' support of families in the adolescent's transition to independent diabetes management. Research is needed on the impact of optimizing sleep health in adolescents with T1D.

Perceptions of sleep health among African American mothers regarding their preschool-aged children: A qualitative study to decrease sleep health disparities.

OBJECTIVES: African American children are documented as having poor sleep health due to shorter sleep duration, sleep timing, and sleep behaviors compared to White peers, contributing to child health disparities. Identifying cultural-environmental, and societal factors impacting a child's sleep among African American families is essential for developing interventions for this population. This study evaluated holistically why African American children may have poorer sleep health by examining sleep duration, timing, and behaviors. This was assessed by examining sleep-related beliefs, barriers, and facilitators to sleep schedules and routines. We also explored parental ideas for a sleep intervention. METHODS: African American mothers of preschool-aged children (2-5years) were recruited using local partnerships and social media. Individual semistructured interviews were conducted by phone. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically using grounded-theory. RESULTS: Eighteen African American mothers completed the study. Five themes related to sleep emerged: The importance of adequate nighttime sleep, the influence of family and friends on parental sleep practices, the relationship between environmental and home dynamics on child sleep duration, the impact of acute and chronic societal-level stressors on family sleep health, and considerations for culturally tailored interventions to improve child sleep health. CONCLUSIONS: Good sleep health was important among African American mothers. Cultural-environmental and societal factors significantly impact children's sleep health. Clinicians and researchers should be aware of financial resources and home dynamics leading to challenges with adequate sleep health when developing or adapting sleep interventions. Identifying cultural-environmental, and societal factors must be considered for targeted efforts to improve sleep health in African American children.

A Universal Program to Improve Mental Health among Youth from Low-Income Predominantly Minority Communities: Implementation of Advocates 4 ALL Youth (ALLY).

Disparities in mental health care and access to care disproportionately affect youth from minoritized and low-income communities. School-based prevention programs have the potential to offer a non-stigmatized approach to mental health care as well as the ability to reach many students simultaneously. Advocates 4 All Youth (ALLY) is a program developed for 5-6th grade students aimed at improving self-efficacy and resilience via individualized sessions with a trusted adult (ALLYs). The feasibility of delivering ALLY in a racially and minoritized low-income community is discussed and modifications required to implement the program documented. Students completed questionnaires and sessions with an ALLY. Aspects of program delivery deemed feasible included training ALLYs to delivery program, stakeholder buy-in regarding missing class time, and students attending the sessions. Further modifications included adjustments to materials due to lower reading level and health literacy related-educational needs. Programs designed in one demographic setting may not work in a different setting.

Sleep duration and association with cardiometabolic health in adolescents and adults with type 1 diabetes: Results from the BCQR-T1D study.

AIM: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) increases the risk of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease, and insufficient sleep is prevalent. Emerging evidence suggests a link between sleep and cardiometabolic health, but this has not been examined across the lifespan in individuals with T1D. We aimed to examine associations between sleep and cardiometabolic health in adolescents and adults with T1D in a secondary analysis of data from a 4-week double-blind, random-order, placebo-controlled crossover trial of bromocriptine quick release (BCQR) therapy with a 4-week washout in between conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two adults (19-60 years) and 42 adolescents (12-18 years) with T1D >9 months completed 1 week of home monitoring with wrist-worn actigraphy to estimate sleep duration and continuous glucose monitoring, anthropometrics, arterial stiffness, magnetic resonance imaging (adolescents only), and fasting laboratory testing at each treatment phase. RESULTS: Sixty-two per cent of adolescents and 74% of adults obtained <7 h of sleep per night at baseline. After adjustment for age, sex and diabetes duration, baseline sleep <7 h per night was associated with a higher body mass index, a higher waist circumference, a higher systolic blood pressure, worse arterial stiffness and a lower estimated insulin sensitivity (all p < .05). When examined by age group, associations between sleep duration and cardiometabolic health outcomes remained significant, predominantly for adolescents. In adolescents only, wake time was significantly later (p = .027) and time in bed was significantly longer with BCQR versus placebo (p = .049). CONCLUSIONS: Objectively measured sleep <7 h per night was prevalent in adolescents and adults with T1D and associated with poorer cardiometabolic health markers. Small changes in sleep were seen following BCQR treatment in adolescents only. Sleep may be an important and novel target for improving cardiometabolic health in individuals with T1D.

Advancing Patient-Centered Care: An International Survey of Adolescent Perspectives on Insomnia.

OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to inform patient-centered care for adolescent insomnia by describing adolescents' perspectives on insomnia. Specific constructs of interest included: 1) factors that contributed to insomnia development or maintenance, 2) impact of insomnia on day-to-day life, 3) recommended research priorities, and 4) overall experience living with insomnia. METHOD: A convenience sample of adolescents (ages 13-18 years) self-identifying with insomnia symptoms was recruited through social media. Respondents (n = 3,014) completed an online survey. Responses to an open-ended item assessing patient experience were coded using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants identified as 70.8% White non-Hispanic, 77.0% female, and lived in one of five English-speaking countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand). Most (87.5%) met DSM-V diagnostic criteria for insomnia. The most common contributory factors to insomnia endorsed were stress (72.1%) and depressed mood (63.6%), while common impact areas were mood (72.2%), focus (61.0%), and pain (49.7%). Patient-centered research priorities were identifying insomnia causes (66.4%) and early detection (66.1%). Common adolescent experiences included high distress levels, feelings of invalidation, and helplessness about their insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with insomnia offer a unique perspective that should inform patient-centered research and care. There is a need for heightened screening and awareness about insomnia as a condition that causes significant distress and impairment for adolescents. To provide validating care, providers should recognize the multifaceted causes of insomnia.

Comprehensive transition of care for polycystic ovary syndrome from adolescence to adulthood.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a lifelong chronic condition that affects one in ten females and can be diagnosed in adolescence. As adolescents with PCOS transition to adulthood, counselling for lifestyle management and mental health concerns often transition from involving the family unit to increasingly individual-focused approaches. PCOS is associated with a large range of comorbidities affecting reproductive, metabolic, dermatological, and psychological health. The diagnosis and comorbidities of PCOS are influenced by pubertal hormones and need to be reassessed continuously to ensure that treatment remains appropriate for age and development. As young patients grow up, personal concerns often change, especially in relation to reproductive management. In this Review, we present prevalence rates, screening tools, and treatment recommendations for PCOS-related conditions, and we consider the diagnostic and clinical elements of optimal transition of care models that ensure continuity of comprehensive care for adolescents moving from the paediatric health-care system to the adult health-care system.

Convergent validity of time in bed estimates from activPAL and Actiwatch in free-living youth and adults.

Actiwatch devices are often used to estimate time in bed (TIB), but recently became commercially unavailable. Thigh-worn activPAL devices could be a viable alternative. We tested convergent validity between activPAL (CREA algorithm) and Actiwatch devices. Data were from free-living samples comprising 47 youth (3-16 valid nights/participant) and 42 adults (6-26 valid nights/participant) who wore both devices concurrently. On average, activPAL predicted earlier bedtimes and later risetimes compared to Actiwatch, resulting in longer overnight intervals (by 1.49 hours/night for youth and 0.67 hours/night for adults; both p < 0.001). TIB interruptions were predicted less commonly by activPAL (mean < 2 interruptions/night for both youth and adults) than Actiwatch (mean of 24-26 interruptions/night in both groups; both p < 0.001). Overnight intervals for both devices tended to overlap for lengthy periods (mean of 7.38 hours/night for youth and 7.69 hours/night for adults). Within these overlapping periods, the devices gave matching epoch-level TIB predictions an average of 87.9% of the time for youth and 84.3% of the time for adults. Most remaining epochs (11.8% and 15.1%, respectively) were classified as TIB by activPAL but not Actiwatch. Overall, the devices had fair agreement during the overlapping periods, but limited agreement when predicting interruptions, bedtime, or risetime. Future work should assess the criterion validity of activPAL devices to understand implications for health research. The present findings demonstrate that activPAL is not interchangeable with Actiwatch, which is consistent with their differing foundations (thigh inclination for activPAL versus wrist movement for Actiwatch).