Everyone knows sleep is important, especially if they’ve experienced any difficulties with their sleep. During a person’s life, there are several developmental phases when sleep problems are likely to emerge. The sleep research team within the Developmental Psychology Research Group currently focuses on the teenage years, and especially on problems relating to sleep timing. From a typical adult’s point of view sleep timing doesn’t seem to be a “real” problem – teenagers just need to go to bed earlier, right?
Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. If sleep timing during the teen years was so easy, it wouldn’t be a problem to the 57 % of adolescents who report sleeping too little. Or the 16 % of teens who develop a clinically significant disorder called Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD). To provide solutions to these issues, SleepHelsinki was launched in autumn 2016. SleepHelsinki is a research project which tries to find solutions to those sleep problems which typically emerge in adolescence, namely relating to circadian regulation.
There are several reasons for the high prevalence of problems, and, of course, some of them could be solved just by going to bed earlier. However, most of the troubles have a biological basis: adolescents’ sleep regulation goes through major changes as the brain matures, and as these changes take place, a natural shift in sleep timing also occurs. In addition to this, teenagers have high resilience to resist the homeostatic sleep pressure which builds up when staying awake. When you add mobile devices, complicated social lives, a thirst for independence, and important educational choices into the equation, sleep timing is suddenly a very real problem.
Since last year, SleepHelsinki! -study has been collecting data to reveal all possible causes for problems in sleep timing among 16-17-year-olds adolescents living in Helsinki. Participants who filled in online questionnaires have provided valuable information, and based on those answers, the sleep research team has now begun looking for the best solutions. Because everyone is different, the solutions need to be different: therefore SleepHelsinki is testing seven different approaches to problems relating to sleep timing.
Participants might be assigned to a bright light group, or receive sleep coaching, or maybe even play a sleep game on their mobile phone. All participants are also thoroughly measured (their sleep, skin temperature, saliva cortisol), and given instructions on how to improve their sleeping schedules.
The SleepHelsinki team recently published a review article in the Finnish Medical Association’s journal, discussing delayed sleep phase and how to tackle it (“Viivästyneen unijakson lääkkettömät hoidot“, or Non-pharmacological treatment of Delayed Sleep Phase]. However, the work has only begun. SleepHelsinki has a great team working on the project, but the most important part of the study is the participants. Every adolescent who participates in the study provides unique data, which will help in finding optimal solutions. Time will tell which of the solutions really works and has long-lasting effects. In the meantime, sleep well and prosper!
/Liisa Kuula-Paavola