Insomnia – going beyond sleep hygiene

Difficulties with sleep are prevalent and significant across the developmental spectrum. Not only does poor sleep affect daytime functioning in relation to mood, focus, appetite, and emotional regulation, but ineffective bedtime routines can cause significant distress for youth and caregivers, as well. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine describes insomnia as “repeated difficulty with sleep initiation, duration, consolidation, or quality that occurs despite age-appropriate time and opportunity for sleep and results in daytime functional impairment for the child and/or family.’’¹

Pediatric providers likely are familiar already with initial steps in the evaluation and treatment of insomnia. The emphasis here is assessment and intervention approaches beyond the foundational use of sleep hygiene recommendations.

^{tab1962/Thinkstock}

In working with a patient such as Katie who comes laden with diagnoses and medications, stepping back to reconsider the assessment is an important starting point. Problems related to sleep are rife in psychiatric conditions, from depression, anxiety, and PTSD to bipolar disorder, ADHD, and autism.²Given the general prevalence of mental health conditions, a psychiatric screening interview is prudent in any patient presenting with sleep difficulties.

Next is see if there are external factors engendering insomnia. Sleep hygiene focuses on these, but sometimes recent stressors or familial conflict are overlooked, which may be linchpins to improving sleep patterns. Commonly prescribed medications (steroids, bupropion, and stimulants) and intoxication or withdrawal symptoms from substance use can contribute to wakefulness and deserve consideration. It can be useful to track sleep for a while to identify contributing factors, impediments to sleep, and ineffective patterns (see tools at sleepfoundation.org or the free app CBT-I Coach).

After assessment, the bulk of the evidence for pediatric insomnia is for behavioral treatments, mostly for infants and young children. This may be familiar territory, and it offers a good time to assess the level of motivation. Are the patient and family aware of how insomnia affects their lives on a day-to-day basis and is this problem a priority?

For adolescents who are convinced of the life-changing properties of a good night’s sleep, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) is developing a strong evidence base for insomnia in adolescents.³ CBT-i adds to the usual interventions for addressing insomnia in infants and young children by additionally training adolescents relaxation techniques, by addressing cognitive distortions about sleep, and by actually restricting sleep. This last technique involves initially reducing the amount of sleep in order to build a tight association between sleep and the bedroom, improve sleep efficiency, and increase sleep drive.