Sleep problems have a significant detrimental impact on physical health, development, and functioning and are commonly experienced co-morbidly with other mental health problems. Therefore, many adolescents who are attending Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), also experience significant sleep disturbances. However, sleep problems are rarely addressed within CAMHS due to lack of awareness of the importance of sleep and/or training in effective treatments. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended approach for treating insomnia in both adult and adolescent populations. Despite this, there has been limited research investigating the delivery of CBT-I interventions to adolescents attending CAMHS, and to our knowledge, no such studies exist within the Scottish context. The Strathclyde intervention to encourage good sleep health for teenagers (SIESTA) incorporates CBT-I components to improve adolescent sleep. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of SIESTA for adolescents attending CAMHS. Staff within CAMHS will receive training to deliver SIESTA to groups of adolescents with co-morbid mental health and sleep problems. The following feasibility benchmarks will be assessed: recruitment and retention, participant attendance, facilitator training, intervention fidelity and participant adherence. Acceptability will be measured via qualitative interviews with participants and CAMHS staff. Baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up assessments will be conducted to assess preliminary effectiveness of the intervention for improving sleep and mental health. This research is necessary to inform future trials of SIESTA and to support its wider implementation within CAMHS.
The overall objectives of the study are to:~To assess the feasibility of delivering the Strathclyde intervention to encourage good sleep health for teenagers (SIESTA) to adolescents with co-morbid insomnia and mental health attending Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. The following feasibility benchmarks will be assessed: recruitment and retention, participant attendance, staff training, intervention fidelity and participant adherence.~To examine participant acceptability. The researchers will conduct qualitative interviews with the participants and delivery staff to examine the acceptability of the programme.~To investigate the preliminary effectiveness by assessing the following: sleep parameters, insomnia symptoms, Circadian phase preference (baseline only) and mental health symptoms. Data will be collected at baseline, post-intervention and 3 month follow-up.