Quick sleep support for teens
Brief Interventions for Teen Sleep (BITS)
Short, modular sleep treatments aim to help teens with sleep problems and reduce risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11109735 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be offered brief, modular sleep-focused sessions based on proven sleep and circadian therapy principles tailored for adolescents with depression or who are at risk for suicidal thoughts. The program targets things like bedtime routines, sleep timing, and other behaviors that affect sleep, and asks for your feedback on how acceptable and practical it feels. Researchers will conduct interviews and use implementation science methods to adapt the program for diverse teens and make it easier to deliver in schools or clinics. The team will track whether the approach is usable, acceptable, and can be scaled up for broader youth use.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adolescents who have sleep difficulties and who are depressed or have recent suicidal thoughts or behaviors, or who are otherwise identified as at-risk.
Not a fit: Teens without sleep problems or those with severe, acute suicide risk who need immediate intensive care are unlikely to benefit from this intervention approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, these brief sleep approaches could improve teens' sleep and help lower suicidal thoughts and behaviors in at-risk adolescents.
How similar studies have performed: Sleep problems are consistently linked with suicidal thinking and some sleep therapies have improved sleep, but no prior sleep intervention has been specifically tested to prevent suicidal thoughts in at-risk youth, so this application is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Pittsburgh, United States
- University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Goldstein, Tina R — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Goldstein, Tina R
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.