Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Idia Thurston

Committee Member

Kristoffer Berlin

Committee Member

James Murphy

Committee Member

Atia Harris

Abstract

Sleep plays an essential role in health and well-being throughout the lifespan. Short sleep duration (< 8 hours/night) is highly prevalent among adolescents and is associated with a myriad of problematic psychosocial and physical health outcomes including obesity. There are a number of mutable, behavioral predictors known to be associated with short sleep; however, interventions targeting these behaviors to increase sleep duration are either limited or yield inconsistent findings. Researchers suggest that Motivational Interviewing (MI) interventions may be a feasible and acceptable means to improve sleep duration, yet no known research has examined MI to improve sleep duration among adolescents with large bodies. The purpose of the current study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a brief, individually-delivered, MI intervention that utilized tailored feedback and values-based strategies to improve sleep among adolescents with large bodies. Thirteen adolescents (aged 13-18; 62% female; 77% Black; Mage=15.2) with large bodies and self-reported short sleep participated in an MI intervention incorporating personalized sleep feedback generated from weeklong monitoring via sleep diary and Fitbit. The present study employed a one-group design with pre-test/post-test assessment to examine the feasibility and acceptability of this brief MI intervention. Session attendance was feasible given high retention from baseline to post-intervention (100%) and follow-up (92%, N=12). Monitoring sleep via Fitbit was acceptable and moderately feasible, while sleep diary completion was neither. Regarding intervention content, teens found personalized sleep feedback helpful and activities easy to understand. From baseline to six-week follow-up, teens reported improvements on perceived importance of sleeping more as well as increased confidence in their ability to get more sleep and readiness to sleep more. Findings support the feasibility and acceptability of an MI intervention for short sleep among teens with large bodies and will be used to inform future intervention development and adaptation for use in a randomized controlled trial. The brevity and practicality of this intervention also enhances long-term sustainability and ease of integration into busy multidisciplinary clinics.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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