In particular, the results would be discussed in the light of a possible down-regulation of glucocorticoid receptors. Insomnia, a type of sleep disruption, is an extremely common and troublesome condition associated with cancer. The diagnosis of cancer represents a threat to survival; consequently, both patients and physicians believe that transient sleep dysfunction in response is normal. Currently, relatively little is known about the etiology and evolution of insomnia in cancer patients. Emerging evidence suggests that a significant minority of cancer patients develop a chronic persistent form of insomnia as a result of the diagnosis and treatment of their cancer. Chronic insomnia is a substantial problem; in the general population insomnia is a risk factor for additional morbidity (e.g., depression, fatigue, heart disease). This symposium will first discuss the prevalence of insomnia and its progression over an 18-month period in a large sample of newly diagnosed cancer patients. The second presentation will describe the sleep architecture of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Polysomnographic sleep findings revealing the prevalence of slow wave sleep (SWS) in cancer patients before treatment, following treatment, and at later follow-up will be discussed. Finally, results from a national randomized clinical trial of YOCAS ® Yoga will show how a brief, community-based intervention of 4 weeks' duration can significantly reduce insomnia and use of sleep medication in cancer survivors, suggesting that persistent insomnia responds quickly to a behavioral exercise intervention and can be treated easily and effectively. The goal of this symposium is to disseminate exciting recent findings in the areas of sleep and cancer and to generate new ideas and an awareness of chronic insomnia in cancer patients so that its negative effects can be addressed. The goal of this large scale epidemiological study was to assess the prevalence and incidence of insomnia comorbid with cancer over an 18-month period. All patients scheduled to undergo surgery after a first diagnosis of non-metastatic cancer were solicited at their pre-operative visit. Among the 3196 patients approached, 1681 were found eligible and 962 (57%) accepted to participate. The participants completed a semi-structured interview for insomnia at baseline (T1), 2 (T2), 6 (T3), 10 (T4), 14 (T5) and 18 months (T6). The prevalence of the insomnia syndrome (T1: 28%; T2: 26%; T3: 25%; T4: 23%; T5: 21%; T6: 22%) decreased progressively and significantly over the 18-month period, F(5,3725) = 7.58, p<.01. Similarly, the prevalence of insomnia symptoms (including patients with an insomnia syndrome) decreased steadily and significantly over time (T1: 60%; T2: 48%; 46%; T3: 46%; T4: 41%; T5: 38%; T6: 37%), F(53725) = 43.77, p<.01. Simple effects indicated that the decrease was significant between T1 and T2 and between T3 and T4 (ps<.01). Prevalence rates of insomnia symptoms were the highest in breast cancer patients (42-69%) and the lowest in prostate cancer patients (25-38%). The overall reduction in prevalence rates was reproduced for each cancer site except for prostate cancer patients in which the decline between T1 and T4, was followed by a resurgence of insomnia symptoms. Based on mixed models analyses, the incidence of insomnia among good sleepers at the previous time assessment was 20% at T2, 22% at T3, 17% at T4, 17% at T5, and 14% at T6. Insomnia is highly prevalent in cancer patients, particularly at the time of cancer surgery and then decreases progressively over time. Despite this overall pattern, insomnia symptoms develop in a significant proportion of patients during the cancer care trajectory, thus suggesting distinct patterns of evolution across patients. Background: Sleep disturbance is prevalent among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Our previous work showed that nearly 80% self-report disturbed sleep during treatment. However, little objective evidence has been gathered on the patterns of sleep before and following chemotherapy. Method: 26 Patients scheduled to receive chemotherapy were recruited. Sleep architecture was assessed by in-lab polysomnography (PSG) for two consecutive nights prior to first chemotherapy (T1), approximately two weeks following the patient's last chemotherapy or radiation treatment (T2) and three months following the last treatment. Most subjects (20) Research about medicine use among adolescents is scarce. However, studies have shown that medicine use for common complaints is widespread among adolescents although there are major differences across countries. Medicine use is a public health concern. First, medicines are toxic and have adverse side effects. Second, medicine use in childhood and adolescence tracks into adulthood. Third, among adults medicine use is the most common response to ill health. Therefore, it is important to identify the main determinants of medicine use in adolescence. A few studies have suggested that adolescents' medicine use is a response to a range of stressors, e.g. exposure to bullying, belonging to a lower socio-economic group or an ethnic minority, and poor self-rated health. The objective of this symposium is to present a scientific rationale for the study of adolescents' medicine use, to provide an overview of recent empirical studies of adolescents' medicine use, to discuss methodological challenges in this area of interest, and to present new empirical findings from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Adolescent mental health has been related to a variety of physical health problems and adolescents can have considerable independence in their use of medicines to treat acute health problems. The relationship between adolescent mental health and medicine use (MU) has not received sufficient attention. The present analyses examine relationships of adolescent mental health and MU and whether mental health contributes to MU beyond the effect of experiencing symptoms of those health problems. Self-reported mental health, MU for four common health problems (headache, stomachache, difficulties sleeping, and nervousness) and symptoms for common health problems were assessed in a nationallyrepresentative sample of 7,611 U.S. students in grades 6 through 10 and in 26,111 11-, 13-, and 15-year-old students in six countries participating in the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study: Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Macedonia, and Scotland. A brief measure of depression was included in the US HBSC survey and a broader mental health index (KIDSCREEN) was included in the surveys of the six European nations. In US adolescents, depression predicted MU for each of the four health problems but when both depression and symptoms were in the regression models depression added to the prediction for difficulties sleeping (p=.0071) and nervousness (p<.0001) only. These findings were replicated in the European sample; using hierarchical linear modeling, there no significant effects due to country. MU for each of the four health problems was predicted by mental health; however, MU for headache and stomachache were no longer significant when symptoms were added to the models. Adolescents with poorer mental/psychological health are more likely to experience symptoms of common health problems and to take medicine for these problems. However, self-reported symptoms may partially mediate the relationship between adolescent mental health and MU. First methodological challenges and opportunities in the study of adolescents' medicine use will be discussed for the constituting parts 'adolescents' and 'medicine use'. These parts will then be combined in the context of the study of ADHD medication use in adolescents. The very word 'adolescence' draws attention to the developmental perspective of any study involving adolescents. Advances in developmental neuroscience can help decide on age boundaries. However, the developmental perspective requires more than age boundaries due to the social and cultural aspects and expectations in this transitional phase, particularly in multi-national adolescents' medicine use studies. Consequences of this developmental perspective for data collection and data analysis will be discussed. With regard to medication use, prescription medication and overthe-counter medication are often distinguished. Another distinction is on-label, off-label and unlicensed medication. A special issue in adolescence is the study of compliance since adolescents seem more reluctant to take medicine according to instructions. Over-the-counter drugs and the use of illegal drugs also require specific attention when we study adolescents' medicine use, as does the difference between incidental and frequent or prolonged medicine use. These differences have consequences for data collection and data analysis. Adolescents' use of ADHD medication is usually on-prescription. Methodological issues in the study of prolonged monitoring of adolescents' ADHD medication use as hindered by factors S210 Int.J. Behav. Med. (2010) 17(Suppl 1):S1-S329