Sleep and Mood Disorders Among Youth.

This article reviews the literature on mood disorders and sleep disorders among children and adolescents. Research suggests that sleep plays an important role in the development, progression, and maintenance of mood disorder symptoms among children and adolescents. Sleep problems as early as maternal perinatal insomnia may predict and predate depression among youth.

Report from a randomized control trial: improved alignment between circadian biology and sleep-wake behavior as a mechanism of depression symptom improvement in evening-type adolescents with depressive symptoms.

Study Objectives: An evening circadian preference is common among adolescents. It is characterized by a behavioral predilection for later sleep and wake timing and is associated with higher rates of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The present study aims to (a) test the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral sleep intervention (Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention; TranS-C) in a sample of adolescents with an evening circadian preference and clinically significant depressive symptoms and (b) evaluate improved alignment between circadian biology and sleep-wake behavior as a potential mechanism in the relationship between sleep and depression symptom improvement.

Recent advances in sleep and depression.

Purpose Of Review: There is increasing interest in the connection between sleep disturbances and mood disorders. The purpose of this review is to summarize and evaluate current research on the role of sleep disturbance in the development of depression, as well as to describe recent advances in treatments that improve both sleep and depression symptoms.

Recent Findings: Relevant publications included in this review cover a wide range of topics related to sleep and depression.

Patterns of sleep disturbances and associations with depressive symptoms in autistic young adults.

Autistic individuals are at an increased risk for both sleep disturbances and depression. While studies in the general population and in autistic adults have drawn general links between sleep disturbances and mental health, few studies have examined the extent to which specific sleep problems may be implicated in the extremely high rates of depression among autistic adults. This study aimed to describe the patterns of sleep disturbances in autistic young adults, and their associations with depressive symptoms while controlling for relevant demographic factors.

Moderators of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia on Depression and Anxiety Outcomes.

Purpose Of Review: With a focus on reviewing adequately powered randomized controlled trials, we present recent research on the potential of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) to improve depression and anxiety outcomes among patients with insomnia and one of the following comorbid psychiatric disorders: major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We also examine potential moderators of CBT-I on depression and anxiety outcomes in this population.

Recent Findings: Despite high comorbidity rates, current behavioral and pharmacological treatments for MDD, GAD, and PTSD do not substantially target or improve insomnia symptoms; residual insomnia is exceedingly common even among patients who experience remission.

Opportunities to Integrate Mobile App-Based Interventions Into Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services in the Wake of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened concerns about the impact of depression, anxiety, alcohol, and drug use on public health. Mobile apps to address these problems were increasingly popular even before the pandemic, and may help reach people who otherwise have limited treatment access. In this review, we describe pandemic-related substance use and mental health problems, the growing evidence for mobile app efficacy, how health systems can integrate apps into patient care, and future research directions.

Internet use and its impact on internalizing disorder symptoms and sleep in adolescents with an evening circadian preference.

Study Objectives: This study sought to examine the relationship between internet use, sleep, and internalizing disorder symptoms in adolescents with an evening circadian preference.

Methods: One hundred seventy-two adolescents aged 10-18 years with an evening circadian preference completed a week of sleep diaries and questionnaires about internet use and internalizing disorder symptoms.

Results: Adolescents reported internet use for 3.

Sleep and Mood Disorders Among Youth.

This article reviews the literature on mood disorders and sleep disorders among children and adolescents. Research suggests that sleep plays an important role in the development, progression, and maintenance of mood disorder symptoms among children and adolescents. Sleep problems as early as maternal perinatal insomnia may predict and predate depression among youth.

Depression and sleep: what has the treatment research revealed and could the HPA axis be a potential mechanism?

Research indicates that insomnia improvement plays a critical role in depression symptom improvement. In line with the National Institute of Mental Health Experimental Therapeutics approach recent research focuses on identifying specific mechanisms; the present manuscript aims to review recent research on one potential mechanism, dysfunction in the HPA axis which is a shared biological substrate of both depression and insomnia. Over the past five years, research demonstrated a relationship between sleep disturbance and cortisol reactivity and recovery following a stressor.

Circadian Preference as a Moderator of Depression Outcome Following Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Plus Antidepressant Medications: A Report From the TRIAD Study.

Study Objectives: We previously presented results from a randomized controlled trial that examined the effects of antidepressant medication plus cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and insomnia. The current secondary analysis aims to examine whether circadian preference moderated the reduction in depression and insomnia symptom severity during this trial.

Methods: A total of 139 adult participants with MDD and insomnia disorder were treated with antidepressant medication and randomized to receive 7 sessions of CBT-I or a control therapy (CTRL).

Treating insomnia in depression: Insomnia related factors predict long-term depression trajectories.

Objective: Insomnia and major depressive disorders (MDD) often co-occur, and such comorbidity has been associated with poorer outcomes for both conditions. However, individual differences in depressive symptom trajectories during and after treatment are poorly understood in comorbid insomnia and depression. This study explored the heterogeneity in long-term depression change trajectories, and examined their correlates, particularly insomnia-related characteristics.

The Impact of Sleep Improvement on Food Choices in Adolescents With Late Bedtimes.

Purpose: The aim was to investigate the effect of sleep improvement on desire for and intake of weight gain-promoting foods in adolescents with late bedtimes.

Methods: A sample of 42 adolescents with late bedtimes was enrolled in an intervention designed to improve sleep. Their desire for and intake of food in the morning was assessed at before and after treatment.

Evidence for a Possible Link between Bedtime and Change in Body Mass Index.

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between bedtimes and body mass index (BMI) from adolescence to adulthood in a nationally representative sample.

Design: Three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to assess the bedtimes and BMI of 3,342 adolescents between 1994 and 2009. Hypotheses were tested with hierarchical linear models using a two-level, random intercept and slopes model.

Insomnia as a transdiagnostic process in psychiatric disorders.

Insomnia is a major public health concern, and is highly comorbid with a broad range of psychiatric disorders. Although insomnia has historically been considered a symptom of other disorders, this perspective has shifted. Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that insomnia is related to the onset and course of several psychiatric disorders.

Basic sleep and circadian science as building blocks for behavioral interventions: a translational approach for mood disorders.

Sleep and circadian functioning has been of particular interest to researchers focused on improving treatments for psychiatric illness. The goal of the present paper is to highlight the exciting research that utilizes basic sleep and circadian science as building blocks for intervention in the mood disorders. The reviewed evidence suggests that the sleep and circadian systems are a) disrupted in the mood disorders and linked to symptoms, b) open systems that can be modified, c) the focus of interventions which have been developed to effectively treat sleep disturbance within mood disorders, and d) intimately linked with mood, such that improvements in sleep are associated with improvements in mood.

Children at risk for depression: memory biases, self-schemas, and genotypic variation.

Background: Daughters of depressed mothers are at increased risk for developing a depressive disorder. We know relatively little, however, about the specific factors that contribute to this elevated risk. The present study investigated the effects of familial risk for depression and the 5-HTTLPR and COMT Val158Met polymorphisms, which have been associated with risk for depression, on biases in endorsement of and memory for positive and negative adjectives.

The effects of bedtime and sleep duration on academic and emotional outcomes in a nationally representative sample of adolescents.

Purpose: The overall aim of this study was to clarify and better characterize the sleep/circadian patterns of adolescents in a nationally representative sample.

Methods: We used three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to assess sleep/circadian patterns of 2,700 adolescents in grades seven through 12.

Results: Late school year bedtime was associated with shorter total sleep time cross-sectionally, whereas late summertime bedtime was not.

Circadian rhythms and psychiatric illness.

Purpose Of Review: The present review provides a conceptual introduction to sleep and circadian research in psychiatric illness, and discusses recent experimental and intervention findings in this area.

Recent Findings: In this review, studies published since January 2011 on circadian disturbance and psychiatric illness have been summarized.

Summary: Exciting new results have increasingly utilized objective and validated instruments to measure the circadian system in experimental studies.