Brief multicomponent intervention helps reset circadian timing in teens

A short-term intervention combining sleep scheduling and use of bright-light glasses in the morning and blue light–blocking glasses in the evening can correct the circadian timing and extend weeknight sleep duration in adolescents, as shown in a study.

Conducted in an academic medical centre during school months, the study included 86 adolescents aged 16–19 years who were attending a traditional high school and reported habitual weekend sleep onset later than 1 AM.

The participants were randomly allocated to groups that underwent a 2-week Sleeping Late Teens Program (n=44) or sleep monitoring control (n=42). The Sleeping Late Teens Program consisted of one collaborative, problem-solving session (<1 h) followed by 2 weeks of a personalized sleep schedule that shifted bedtimes and wake times earlier. Participants in the program were also required to wear morning bright-light glasses for 30–60 min upon waking and amber-tinted blue light–blocking glasses for 2 h before bed.

Eighty participants (mean age 17.5 years, 60 percent female) completed baseline procedures (40 in each group) and were included in the analysis. Compared with the sleep monitoring control, the Sleeping Late Teens Program resulted in significant changes in sleep and circadian metrics.

After 2 weeks, participants in the intervention vs the control group had 45-min earlier circadian timing (p=0.003) and 47-min longer weeknight sleep duration (p=0.003).

Dim-light melatonin onset-midsleep alignment decreased by 18 min in the intervention group and increased by 8 min in the control group, although the difference was not significant (p=0.20).