P060 Effectiveness of current digital interventions for children and adolescents with sleep problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Sleep problems occur in up to 50% of typically developing children. Sleep problems include difficulty initiating sleep, frequent night waking, daytime sleepiness, or frequent nightmares, which lead to poor quality sleep. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the effectiveness of digital sleep interventions for children and adolescents. Method Databases (MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, EMBASE, CENTRAL and Web of Science) were searched for studies published from January 2012 to April 2023. Within-subject studies or randomised controlled trials reporting the effects of a digital sleep-based intervention were included. Random-effects meta-analyses estimated pooled standardised mean difference to assess effectiveness. Nine studies involving 484 children/adolescents were included in this review. Results Digital sleep interventions were effective in reducing insomnia symptoms, decreasing subjective sleep onset latency and wake after sleep onset, and increasing subjective sleep efficiency. Objective measures of SOL, WASO and SE were all unchanged following digital sleep intervention. However, objective but not subjective increases in TST were identified. Discussion These results suggest that digital sleep interventions are effective in improving children and adolescent’s perceptions of their sleep but are less effective at improving some objective measures of sleep. Further, uptake of current digital sleep interventions was low, therefore future interventions should aim to address this, potentially through co-design, and integrating treatment components to enhance young people’s motivation. In order to achieve a clear understanding of how digital sleep interventions compare to other behavioural interventions, additional high-quality randomised controlled trials comparing digital interventions to traditional in person modalities are needed.