Parent-Adolescent Interpersonal Processes in the Science of Behavior Change

This study seeks to examine a novel interpersonal target; namely, parent-teen conversations about youth health behavior change. The rationale is that parents have profound impacts on teen risk and vulnerability. Yet parents receive minimal training in the elements of conversations that optimally inspire their children toward engaging in healthy behaviors. A theoretically grounded and reliable taxonomy of behavior change techniques (BCTs) will be used as a basis for scientifically deriving the conversational elements, or micro-mechanisms, that reduce parent-teen conflict and facilitate upward spirals of healthful behavior change. This proposal builds on pilot data from a recently completed NICHD-funded R01 in which a sleep treatment improved sleep and reduced risk on selected outcomes in youth. While sleep-related health behaviors will be the focus of this R21, the research is designed to be relevant to a broad range of health behavior change. As part of an Administrative Supplement to the R21 awarded in Fall, 2019, two changes are made. First, measures of psychophysiology have been added to the Hot Topics Task. Second, an independent sample of teens who are healthy sleepers (n = 20), and their parents, will be tested on the protocol twice, 9 weeks apart. This comparison group is included to control for the passage of time and for completing the protocol twice. They do not receive an intervention.


Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age between 10 and 18 and living with a parent or guardian
2. Lowest quartile of the widely used and well-validated Children's Morningness-Eveningness Preferences Scale (CMEP; 27 or lower) and
3. Youth self-reported weekday sleep onset time for the past month later than 10:40 pm for 10- to 13-year- olds; 11:00pm for 14-16 year olds, and later than 11:20 for 17-18 year olds at least 3 nights per week;
4. English language fluency;
5. able and willing to give informed assent;
6. at least one parent/primary caregiver who lives in the same household as the teen for at least 50% of the week must participate in all study sessions.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. An active, progressive physical illness directly related to the onset and course of the sleep disturbance;
2. evidence of sleep apnea, restless legs or periodic limb movements;
3. significantly impairing pervasive developmental disorder;
4. history of substance dependence in the past six months;
5. suicide risk; bipolar disorder or schizophrenia or another current Axis I disorder if there is a significant risk of harm and/or decompensation if treatment of that comorbid condition is delayed as a function of participating in any stage of this study;
6. Participants will not be excluded if medications are stable (\> 4 weeks).

Inclusion criteria (control group):

1. Age between 10 and 18 and living with a parent or guardian
2. (CMEP; 28 or higher) on Children's Morningness-Eveningness Preferences Scale
3. Item #6 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) rated 'fairly' or 'very good'
4. English language fluency;
5. able and willing to give informed assent;
6. at least one parent/primary caregiver who lives in the same household as the teen for at least 50% of the week must participate in all study sessions.

Exclusion Criteria (control group)

1. An active, progressive physical illness directly related to the onset and course of the sleep disturbance;
2. evidence of sleep apnea, restless legs or periodic limb movements;
3. significantly impairing pervasive developmental disorder;
4. history of substance dependence in the past six months;
5. suicide risk; bipolar disorder or schizophrenia or another current Axis I disorder if there is a significant risk of harm and/or decompensation if treatment of that comorbid condition is delayed as a function of participating in any stage of this study;
6. Participants will not be excluded if medications are stable (\> 4 weeks).