Brief behavioral intervention increased sleep regularity but not duration in adolescents with insufficient sleepBrief sleep program helps teens sleep more regularly but not longer

Sleep health Published April 2, 2026 Study authors: Wescott Delainey L, Goldstein Tina R, Wallace Meredith L, Miller Elizabeth, Buysse Daniel J, Harvey … PubMed ↗ NCT04163003 ↗ DOI ↗ Editorial oversight: Dr. Sofia Müller, MD · Lifespan & Whole-Person Care

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Key Takeaway

Consider that brief behavioral intervention may improve sleep regularity more readily than duration in adolescents.

This randomized controlled trial evaluated a brief behavioral Sleep Promotion Program (SPP) versus sleep monitoring alone in 40 adolescents aged 13-15 with insufficient and irregular sleep. The SPP intervention included sleep psychoeducation and one individual clinician session. Actigraphy data were collected during two periods, each lasting 1-2 weeks.

For the secondary outcome of sleep regularity, participants receiving SPP decreased the difference in weekend-weekday sleep onset by 54 minutes from baseline to Period 1 (β = 1.1, p = .03), indicating increased regularity. This improvement was maintained at Period 2. However, total sleep time (duration) did not change significantly as measured by actigraphy.

Safety and tolerability data were not reported. Key limitations include the small sample size of 40 participants and the fact that the sleep regularity finding comes from secondary outcome analysis. The authors note that this actigraphy-measured result on sleep duration differs from previously reported increases in self-reported sleep duration.

For clinical practice, this study suggests that regularizing sleep patterns may be an attainable first step in addressing adolescent sleep problems, though the intervention did not change objectively measured sleep duration. Future work is needed to test whether improved sleep regularity predicts adolescent health outcomes.

Researchers studied whether a short behavioral program could help teenagers with irregular and insufficient sleep. The program, called the Sleep Promotion Program (SPP), included education about sleep and one individual session with a clinician. It was compared to simply monitoring sleep. The study involved 40 adolescents aged 13 to 15 who wore activity trackers to measure their sleep patterns.

The main finding was that teens who received the SPP program showed more regular sleep schedules. Specifically, the difference between when they went to bed on weekends versus weekdays decreased by about 54 minutes. This improvement in regularity was maintained when measured again later. However, the program did not lead to a significant increase in the total amount of time they slept each night.

It's important to be cautious about these results. The study was small, with only 40 participants. The finding about improved sleep regularity came from an analysis of secondary outcomes, not the main goal the study was originally designed to test. Also, this objective measurement of sleep duration did not show an increase, which differs from some earlier studies that relied on what teens reported themselves. This suggests that making sleep more regular might be an achievable first step, but more research is needed to understand if it leads to better health for teens.

What this means for you:

A short sleep program helped teens sleep more regularly in a small study, but more research is needed.

Study Details

Study typeRct

Sample sizen = 22

EvidenceLevel 2

Follow-up0.5 mo

PublishedApr 2026

PMID41558877

TrialNCT04163003

View Original Abstract ↓

INTRODUCTION: We previously developed a brief, behavioral intervention (Sleep Promotion Program, SPP) that demonstrated feasibility, acceptability, and increased self-reported sleep. Here, we tested the effects of SPP on the trial's secondary outcomes: sleep duration, regularity, and timing as measured by actigraphy and conducted a secondary analysis of SPP's effects on rest-activity rhythms. METHODS: Forty participants (ages 13-15) with insufficient and irregular sleep randomized to SPP-continuation (n = 22), or to sleep monitoring-SPP (n = 18), had analyzable actigraphy data. SPP included sleep psychoeducation and one individual clinician session. Participants wore an actigraph for 1-2 weeks during baseline, Period 1, and Period 2. We hypothesized SPP would lead to longer and more regular sleep from baseline to Period 1 compared to sleep monitoring that would be sustained at Period 2. We used multilevel models with a treatment by time interaction to test whether SPP improved sleep relative to sleep monitoring. We also compared sleep changes from Period 1 to Period 2 among participants randomized to SPP-continuation. RESULTS: Participants receiving SPP decreased the difference in weekend-weekday sleep onset by 54-minute (β = 1.1; p = .03) from baseline to Period 1 (i.e., increased regularity). Increased regularity was maintained at Period 2. Total sleep time did not change significantly. CONCLUSION: SPP regularized weekend-weekday sleep onset timing in adolescents with insufficient and irregular sleep but did not change actigraphic sleep duration, which differed from increases in self-reported sleep duration previously reported. Regularizing sleep may be an attainable first step to improving adolescent sleep. Future work is needed to test whether sleep regularity predicts adolescent health outcomes. CLINICAL TRIALS: Targeted Intervention for Insufficient Sleep among Typically-Developing Adolescents (TAPAS); https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04163003; NCT04163003.

Brief behavioral intervention increased sleep regularity but not duration in adolescents with insufficient sleepBrief sleep program helps teens sleep more regularly but not longer

Study Details

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Brief behavioral intervention increased sleep regularity but not duration in adolescents with insufficient sleepBrief sleep program helps teens sleep more regularly but not longer

Study Details

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