Sleep and Emotion Processing in Childhood
Condition: Sleep; Emotions
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This research project will examine whether experimental sleep extension in children alters
      the neural and behavioral mechanisms by which short sleep is a risk factor for
      emotional/behavioral problems. Children ages 5.0-5.9 years with chronic insufficient sleep
      (≤9 h/night for ≥6 months) will be randomized to either a sleep Extension or to an active
      Control group. Extension group parents will participate in a 1-month individualized
      behavioral sleep intervention to promote targeted sleep duration improvements before
      beginning a 2-week sleep Extension schedule (8 week protocol). Brain and behavioral
      assessments will occur at Baseline and post sleep Extension.
    

Detailed description: 
      Research on processes influencing the development of affective brain circuits is critical to
      elucidating the neurobiological substrates of psychiatric disorders. Mechanistic evidence
      from adults showing a sleep-dependent functional "disconnect" between brain regions central
      to adaptive emotion processing (i.e., regulation and expression) suggests that sleep loss is
      a fundamental target. Similar data in young children, however, do not exist. Early childhood
      is a sensitive period in the maturation of sleep and emotion processing and also a time when
      disturbance in both domains is commonly first detected. Further, epidemiological findings
      reveal that insufficient sleep in childhood is prevalent, associated with concurrent
      emotional problems, and predicts later mood and attentional disorders. Although the
      investigator's recent experimental findings indicate that acute sleep loss results in
      non-adaptive emotion processing in young children, the neural systems underlying such
      sleep-dependent effects are not known. Also, the vast majority of basic research on sleep and
      affective substrates has utilized sleep deprivation or sleep restriction protocols. The
      investigators will instead employ sleep extension in chronically sleep-restricted children, a
      highly translatable approach with significant public health implications.

      This research project will examine whether experimental sleep extension in children alters
      the neural and behavioral mechanisms by which short sleep is a risk factor for
      emotional/behavioral problems. Children ages 5.0-5.9 years with chronic insufficient sleep
      (≤9 h/night for ≥6 months) will be randomized to either a sleep Extension or to an active
      Control group. Extension group parents will participate in a 1-month individualized
      behavioral sleep intervention to promote targeted sleep duration improvements before
      beginning a 2-week sleep Extension schedule (8 week protocol). Brain and behavioral
      assessments will occur at Baseline and post sleep Extension.
    

Intervention name(s): Sleep Health in Preschoolers; Health and Safety Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): In-person, family-based behavioral intervention; In-person, family-based behavioral intervention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Children