Research Evaluating Sleep & Trends for Universal Prevention
Condition: Insomnia; Alcohol Use, Unspecified; Marijuana Use
MeSH terms: Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Marijuana Abuse; Alcohol Drinking; Marijuana Use
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study is designed to develop an integrated intervention to reduce alcohol and marijuana
      use and consequences and improve sleep among young adults with comorbid heavy episodic
      drinking, marijuana use, and sleep impairment.
    

Detailed description: 
      This study is designed to develop an integrated intervention to reduce alcohol and MJ use and
      consequences and improve sleep among young adults (YA) with comorbid heavy episodic drinking
      (HED), MJ use, and sleep impairment. HED in YA is an important public health problem, with
      consequences including accidental injury and death, academic or work problems, unsafe and
      unwanted sex, and development of alcohol use disorders. Many YA with HED also use MJ, often
      simultaneously, and experience increased harm as a result. Sleep impairment is common and
      problematic among YA, identified as the 3rd leading barrier to academic success for students
      and an important risk factor for mental health problems and suicide in YA. Alcohol use has
      been linked to impaired sleep in adolescent, YA, college, and older adult populations, with
      bidirectional causal links between alcohol use and impaired sleep, including negative
      physiological effects of alcohol on the sleep cycle (e.g., suppression of REM sleep), use of
      alcohol to promote sleep onset which can both increase alcohol use and resultant sleep
      impairment, and poor sleep hygiene including delayed and variable sleep-wake timing
      associated with cyclical patterns of alcohol use during evening and/or weekend social events.
      Comorbidity of HED and sleep impairment is associated with increased consequences of alcohol
      use, and exacerbates risk of accidents (including automobile accidents), impaired
      decision-making, and work and academic difficulties. Similar bidirectional relations exist
      with MJ use and sleep. Despite risks and consequences, alcohol and MJ prevention programs
      rarely target sleep directly, and the majority of YA interventions for sleep either focus on
      sleep hygiene broadly in the absence of specific strategies shown to improve sleep or reduce
      alcohol or MJ use, or have been relatively intensive interventions with insufficient sample
      size to truly evaluate impacts on sleep or related comorbid alcohol or MJ use. The current
      study addresses these gaps through developing and evaluating feasibility and preliminary
      efficacy of a brief, integrated intervention combining efficacious brief motivational
      feedback and skills for reducing HED and MJ use and consequences (BASICS) with Brief
      Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (SLEEP) shown to improve sleep in other populations.
      Feasibility and efficacy will be evaluated over a 3-month period, using surveys and daily
      diaries to assess alcohol, MJ, and sleep at post-intervention and 3- months. Specific aims
      are: 1) Assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy BASICS + SLEEP in
      reducing alcohol use and consequences, improving sleep, and weakening daily and lagged (next
      day) relationships between alcohol and MJ use and sleep impairment; and 2) Use diary data to
      explore daily and lagged relationships between alcohol use, MJ, sleep impairment, and unique
      YA contextual factor to further inform prevention of comorbid alcohol use, MJ, and sleep
      impairment.
    

Intervention name(s): Brief Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (BBTI); Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Brief Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (BBTI) focuses primarily on stimulus control and sleep restriction as well as sleep hygiene recommendations delivered over 2 in-person sessions and 2 brief telephone boosters and is designed to be implemented by nonspecialists in primary care or other non-clinical settings. The intervention is manualized, and clients utilize sleep diaries and workbook assignments to consolidate recommendations.; Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) is a manualized brief intervention targeting alcohol use and consequences among high risk drinkers and includes both personalized feedback regarding drinking norms, consequences, and motives for drinking, as well as protective behavioral skills for reducing heavy episodic drinking and related consequences. BASICS is delivered in a motivational interviewing (MI) style (Miller & Rollnick, 2002) to enhance intrinsic motivation to change drinking and implement protective behavioral strategies. BASICS has been adapted to target marijuana use and has been adapted for use with a variety of populations.
Other intervention name(s): BASICS
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Insomnia; Alcohol Use; Marijuana Use; Young Adults