Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for Adolescents
Despite extensive research on the effects of sleep restriction on adolescent health, the field lacks experimental methods to study the health effects of mistimed sleep, which is also common among adolescents. This paper describes a novel 3-week experimental protocol that was designed to compare slee...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Clocks & Sleep |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-5175/7/1/4 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850090248685486080 |
|---|---|
| author | Dean W. Beebe Andrea L. Fidler Laura McLaughlin Sabrina Grove Stephanie J. Crowley |
| author_facet | Dean W. Beebe Andrea L. Fidler Laura McLaughlin Sabrina Grove Stephanie J. Crowley |
| author_sort | Dean W. Beebe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite extensive research on the effects of sleep restriction on adolescent health, the field lacks experimental methods to study the health effects of mistimed sleep, which is also common among adolescents. This paper describes a novel 3-week experimental protocol that was designed to compare sleep restriction, like what many adolescents experience on school nights, against sleep that meets the recommended duration but is timed to be relatively aligned or misaligned with their circadian phase. Healthy 14–18-year-olds, classified as early (“Lark”) and late (“Owl”) chronotypes, entered a six-night chronotype-aligned stabilization condition, followed by five nights of sleep restriction, a return to the stabilization schedule, and five nights of healthy sleep duration (HS). During HS, participants were randomly assigned to early-to-bed versus late-to-rise arms, intended to align with or misalign with their circadian phase. Actigraphy monitored sleep, and weekly dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO) assessed circadian phase. Analyses confirmed that the protocol met five key validation metrics related to differential attrition, sleep timing, circadian phase, and experimental induction of HS that is timed to be relatively aligned vs. misaligned with circadian phase. This protocol appears useful for future research into how misaligned sleep patterns, which occur regularly for many adolescents, may impact health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d78e8a5815854004aa63644552bb647f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2624-5175 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clocks & Sleep |
| spelling | doaj-art-d78e8a5815854004aa63644552bb647f2025-08-20T02:42:36ZengMDPI AGClocks & Sleep2624-51752025-01-0171410.3390/clockssleep7010004Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for AdolescentsDean W. Beebe0Andrea L. Fidler1Laura McLaughlin2Sabrina Grove3Stephanie J. Crowley4Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USADepartment of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USADivision of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USADivision of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USADepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Rush University System for Health, Chicago, IL 60612, USADespite extensive research on the effects of sleep restriction on adolescent health, the field lacks experimental methods to study the health effects of mistimed sleep, which is also common among adolescents. This paper describes a novel 3-week experimental protocol that was designed to compare sleep restriction, like what many adolescents experience on school nights, against sleep that meets the recommended duration but is timed to be relatively aligned or misaligned with their circadian phase. Healthy 14–18-year-olds, classified as early (“Lark”) and late (“Owl”) chronotypes, entered a six-night chronotype-aligned stabilization condition, followed by five nights of sleep restriction, a return to the stabilization schedule, and five nights of healthy sleep duration (HS). During HS, participants were randomly assigned to early-to-bed versus late-to-rise arms, intended to align with or misalign with their circadian phase. Actigraphy monitored sleep, and weekly dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO) assessed circadian phase. Analyses confirmed that the protocol met five key validation metrics related to differential attrition, sleep timing, circadian phase, and experimental induction of HS that is timed to be relatively aligned vs. misaligned with circadian phase. This protocol appears useful for future research into how misaligned sleep patterns, which occur regularly for many adolescents, may impact health.https://www.mdpi.com/2624-5175/7/1/4sleep manipulationcircadian phaseadolescence |
| spellingShingle | Dean W. Beebe Andrea L. Fidler Laura McLaughlin Sabrina Grove Stephanie J. Crowley Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for Adolescents Clocks & Sleep sleep manipulation circadian phase adolescence |
| title | Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for Adolescents |
| title_full | Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for Adolescents |
| title_fullStr | Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for Adolescents |
| title_full_unstemmed | Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for Adolescents |
| title_short | Feasibility of an At-Home Experimental Circadian Misalignment Induction for Adolescents |
| title_sort | feasibility of an at home experimental circadian misalignment induction for adolescents |
| topic | sleep manipulation circadian phase adolescence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-5175/7/1/4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT deanwbeebe feasibilityofanathomeexperimentalcircadianmisalignmentinductionforadolescents AT andrealfidler feasibilityofanathomeexperimentalcircadianmisalignmentinductionforadolescents AT lauramclaughlin feasibilityofanathomeexperimentalcircadianmisalignmentinductionforadolescents AT sabrinagrove feasibilityofanathomeexperimentalcircadianmisalignmentinductionforadolescents AT stephaniejcrowley feasibilityofanathomeexperimentalcircadianmisalignmentinductionforadolescents |