An intervention for sleep difficulties in psychosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of a novel blended intervention targeting sleep difficulties in individuals experiencing psychosis
IRAS ID
273026
Contact name
Matteo Cella
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 30 days
Research summary
The proposed study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of delivering a blended face-to-face and smartphone app intervention to target sleep difficulties, in individuals experiencing psychosis. For people with psychosis, sleep difficulties are common, and are related to poorer well-being, low mood and may maintain psychotic experiences. Psychotic experiences may include hallucinations (e.g. hearing voices) and unusual beliefs that others do not share (e.g. ‘there is an organisation trying to harm me’).
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi) is a type of psychological therapy that is effective in treating sleep difficulties. This treatment requires therapists to deliver it over multiple sessions, making it costly and rarely available in routine psychosis services. A possible solution is to make parts of the therapy available using mobile phones ('digital CBTi'). Though effective for many other populations, digital CBTi has not yet been tested for people with psychosis. Digital CBTi may enable more people to access effective sleep treatment, and could improve sleep quality, wellbeing and reduce psychotic experiences.
In this study, participants will meet face-to-face with the study therapist to review their current sleep and receive recommendations on targets for intervention. They will then be asked to use the intervention app for a six-week period, supported by ad-hoc weekly telephone calls with the therapist. The use of the app will involve completion of weekly ’module tasks’, and reminders to support implementation of strategies. Participants will monitor their sleep, and take part in an assessment involving questionnaires before and after the intervention. All participants will be invited to provide feedback on their experience in a brief interview. The results of this study will inform future research and practice, by helping us to assess if service-users find the intervention acceptable, and by providing initial estimates on whether the intervention may help in reducing their symptoms.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
20/WA/0234
Date of REC Opinion
28 Aug 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion