Reducing Suicidality Through Improved Sleep Health
San Diego State University
Summary
The goal of this study is to test a sleep health program designed specifically for U.S. Marine Corps personnel. Researchers want to determine if this program helps Marines improve the participants sleep quality and overall mental health. The study will evaluate whether the program improves sleep quality and duration and reduces symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicide ideation. There are three distinct sleep health programs that will be evaluated; participants will be randomly assigned to one of five groups to receive different combinations of the sleep health programs. To measure results, researchers will use participant surveys for all enrolled participants and wearable sleep-tracking devices for a sub-set of participants. The study team expects that Marines who receive the most comprehensive version of the program will show the greatest improvements in sleep and psychological well-being.
Description
Purpose/objective: Military suicide remains a pervasive issue, following a sharp increase in the rates of suicidality observed after the start of the Global War on Terror. Given the seriousness of military suicide, suicide prevention is a top priority for the Department of Defense, but interventions that are both effective and feasible to implement across the Force remain elusive, in large part due to challenges in detecting suicidality among personnel who are not enrolled in clinical psychological treatment. As such, interventions that target upstream risk factors for suicide, such as sleep h…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * Age 18+ * Able to read and write in English * Currently serving as an active duty member of the U.S. Marine Corp * Currently assigned to duty at the approved study site Exclusion Criteria: * Planned deployment or training operation lasting 30 days or longer and /or planned change of duty station within the study period (i.e., 24 weeks postrecruitment) * Under 18 years of age * Unable to read and write in English
Interventions
- BehavioralSleep Leadership
This classroom-style educational training was designed by Adler and colleagues (2021) specifically for Army leaders, based on research showing that perceptions of their leader's sleep-related behaviors can impact unit member's sleep (Gunia et al., 2015). The one-hour training includes a combination of PowerPoint slides, video clips, and handouts with content targeting five leader behaviors denoted using the acronym "SLEEP": Set conditions for adequate sleep through work stress mitigation and environmental conditions; Lead by example; Educate Soldiers about caffeine, alcohol, and substances; Encourage awareness and responsibility among Soldiers; Prioritize sleep and recovery during and after missions.
- BehavioralCircadian, Light, and Sleep Skills in Shipboard Military (CLASS-MC) Personnel Program
CLASS-MC is a sleep and circadian health-focused educational program originally designed for shipboard Sailors (Schmied et al., 2022) adapted in the current study for Marines. CLASS-MC includes a 30-minute presentation that is delivered in-person. The curriculum includes information on the purpose and benefits of sleep, basic information about circadian health, and detailed and feasible strategies for how to maximize sleep and circadian health in operational conditions.
- BehavioralInsomnia Coach
This intervention is a mobile app developed by researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA; Kuhn et al., 2022). Insomnia Coach is based on principles of CBT-I, and includes various content modules, such as a daily sleep diary, psychoeducation, and personalized feedback recommendations provided by a feature called "Sleep Coach" (Kuhn et al., 2022).
Location
- San Diego State UniversitySan Diego, California