Triple Chronotherapy + Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention (TSC+) for Suicidal Young Adults
University of Pittsburgh
Summary
The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which delivering sleep and circadian focused interventions in addition to evidenced based psychiatric care for depression and suicide risk may contribute to decreasing suicide risk among high risk young adults. Investigators will evaluate three interventions targeting sleep in acutely suicidal college students enrolled in intensive outpatient treatment. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: 1. Triple Chronotherapy (TCT)+ Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention (TSC) 2. Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention (TSC) 3. Sleep Feedback (SF) Participants will be followed for 6 months with primary outcome domains of suicidal thoughts and behaviors and depression evaluated by blinded clinicians at short (Days 1-4 of intervention), medium (2 months) and long (6 month) term intervals.
Description
Suicide is currently the second leading cause of death among college students, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) in this group have increased substantially in recent years. Indeed, young adulthood represents a particularly high-risk period for onset of psychiatric disorders associated with STBs, including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder. There is a pressing need for efficacious treatments for suicidal college students that yield fast-acting and sustained effects in order to minimize disruption to young adults' developmental trajectories. While efficacious treatments ex…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–25 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Enrolled or planning to enroll in treatment at COSTAR Intensive Outpatient Program * English language fluency and literacy sufficient to engage in study protocol * Suicidal ideation or suicide attempt in past month * Clinically significant sleep disturbance, operationalized as Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global PSQI score \>= 7, and/or delayed bedtimes (\>midnight), and/or \>2 hours in sleep timing variability Exclusion Criteria: * Non-affective psychosis per electronic health record (EHR) review and/or baseline clinical assessment, or symptom severity or psychosoci…
Interventions
- BehavioralSleep Feedback + Psychoeducation
Participants are provided with an actigraphy watch that is used to monitor their sleep and activity throughout the day and complete a sleep diary daily. Along with wearing the watch they also will be provided access to their actigraphy and sleep diary graphs that document their data on demand via smartphone link.
- BehavioralTransdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention + Bright Light (TSC+)
Behavioral: TSC+ • This intervention includes participants attending 6-8 sessions of a manualized sleep intervention with a Sleep Therapist, delivered in person or videoconference, as well as daily bright light therapy (up to one hour daily) and blue light blocking glasses (up to one hour before bedtime)
- BehavioralTriple Chronotherapy (TCT+)
Behavioral: TCT+ • One night of total sleep deprivation followed by three nights of sleep phase advancement in the sleep lab, daily bright light therapy (up to one hour daily) and blue light blocking glasses (up to one hour before bedtime), in a sleep lab.
Location
- Western Psychiatric Hospital/University of PittsburghPittsburgh, Pennsylvania