The study objective was to assess the effects of a five-week compassionate mind training for university students regarding symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, and self-compassion compared with an active control group. Swedish university students were randomized to a compassionate mind training group or to an active control group. The outcome measures were. the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, the Perceived Stress Scale 14, and the Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form. All outcomes were measured pre- and post-intervention. Data were analyzed with linear mixed-effects models. The only statistically significant difference between the groups were depression symptoms (p = 0.02, d = −0.40) corresponding to a slight clinically relevant improvement. The study's results are consistent with prior research suggesting that compassionate mind training may be beneficial for alleviating depression symptoms. However, the low baseline depression levels in this sample and the short duration of the intervention may limit the generalizability and the magnitude of the findings. The small sample size and relatively homogenous group, also point to the need for larger and more diverse samples. © 2024 The Authors

BackgroundDefinitions and perceptions of health and mental health have not remained static over time. This is also true for statistics over Swedish children's and adolescents' health and mental health status. The majority of Swedish school-aged children and adolescents report good physical health and good life satisfaction. However, there are some warning signs when it comes to children's and adolescents' health and mental health status, for instance, an increased overweight or obesity in children and adolescents, as well as a higher proportion reporting psychological problems and stress. There is also a need for knowing more about the younger population's voices in this matter. The aim was therefore to explore children's and adolescent's conceptualizations and perceptions of health in general, and mental health in particular.MethodsOpen semistructured group interviews with 44 Swedish children and adolescents (10-14 years old) recruited from four schools were conducted. The interviews were conducted between April 2022 and January 2023. Data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.ResultsChildren's and adolescents' conceptualizations of health included aspects of both the body and the mind, with a focus on the latter. Mental health was expressed as a state of being, illustrated by various lived experiences of emotions, moods, and thoughts. The social world was ever present in their understanding of health, e.g., through the lenses of social and gender norms.ConclusionsThis study revealed children's and adolescents' recognition of health terms and their ability to observe nuances between mental health problems and everyday struggles. The participants discussed mental health problems to a greater extent than positive mental health. An implication of this study is the highlighted need to focus more on mental health promotion in future preventive programs. These findings might potentially influence how school staff and student health teams communicate with children and adolescents about these concepts.

Individuals with chronic illnesses and those infected with SARS-CoV-2 often face stigma, shame, and psychological distress related to their conditions. Higher psychological flexibility and self-compassion are often associated with less stigma and shame. Examining and comparing these experiences between people with chronic illness and people who have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 can provide valuable insights into the shared and unique challenges they encounter. This study aimed to compare these two groups, and used structural equation modelling to investigate the links between stigma, shame, and psychological distress, with a focus on the mediating roles of psychological flexibility and self-compassion in these associations. The study included 270 Portuguese participants (chronic illness: n = 104; SARS-CoV-2: n = 166), with an average age of 36.73 years and 86.6% of the sample being women. Results showed that the chronic illness subgroup reported higher levels of illness stigma, anxiety, and depression, compared to the SARS-CoV-2 subgroup. Findings from the mediation analysis, revealed that the model fit exceptionally well, accounting for 48% of the variance in anxiety and 45% in depression symptoms across the entire sample. Most parameters were consistent between the two subgroups, except for the association between self-compassion and depression symptoms, which was only statistically significant in the chronic illness subgroup. In this group, both psychological flexibility and self-compassion mediated the association between stigma and shame with symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the SARS-CoV-2 subgroup, these processes mediated the association with anxiety, whereas psychological flexibility only mediated depression symptoms. The findings from this study provide directions for future research on the possible development or refinement of personalized psychological interventions targeting emotional distress in adults with chronic illnesses and viral disease recovery cohorts.

Many adults suffer from insomnia disorder, struggling to fall asleep, stay asleep, or with early morning awakenings. Hyperarousal is an important predisposing, precipitating and perpetuating factor to insomnia. Anxiety, depression and ADHD are common comorbid disorders, with shared cognitive, behavioral, genetic, and neurological features. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the gold-standard treatment, more effective and economical than pharmacological treatments, though not suitable or available for everyone. Unfortunately, sleeping pills are still more common than CBT-I, despite known risks. One potential treatment avenue is consumer sleep technology, including interventional sleep robots. 

This thesis aimed to assess the safety, acceptability, effects, and experiences of a commercial sleep robot for insomnia in adults. Overall, the thesis does not strongly support the sleep robot as an effective insomnia treatment. The intervention might not have addressed important precipitating factors of the participants’ insomnia, and the robot’s impact on stress reactivity and other potentially important factors remain uncertain. Until more robust research studies are conducted, the current sleep robot intervention should not be considered an evidence-based treatment for adults with insomnia.

Many adults suffer from insomnia disorder, which entails a difficulty initiating sleep and maintaining sleep, or undesired early morning awakenings coupled with trouble going back to sleep. Hyperarousal is an important causal and maintaining factor in insomnia. Furthermore, comorbid conditions such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD are common. The first line treatment of insomnia is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which has been found to be more effective and economical than pharmaceuticals, albeit not suitable or available for all. Sleeping pills are still the most common treatments of insomnia, which is unfortunate due to established risks. Thus, research on credible treatment options is warranted. One potential type of treatment is consumer sleep technology. The current thesis aimed to assess the safety, acceptability, effects, and experiences of the Somnox sleep robot in adults with insomnia.

Overall, the findings from the studies included in the thesis were not strongly in support of the Somnox sleep robot effectively alleviating symptoms of insomnia in adults. To further improve the understanding of the efficiency of technological devices in reducing arousal, future studies could investigate their impact on stress reactivity levels in participants (as opposed to a generalized hyperarousal), with or without prior stress inducement. There is a lack of empirical evidence on whether relaxation techniques actually improve participants’ sleep. It is also possible that the robot could improve sleep through means other than reducing arousal (e.g., stimulus control). Additionally, without measuring participants’ breathing, it is unclear if potentially reduced arousal is due to more adaptive breathing. Nonetheless, it is important to assess first whether the intervention has any effects at all. Until there is substantial evidence from more studies that demonstrate its efficacy, the Somnox sleep robot should not be considered an evidence-based treatment of insomnia.

Objective: This review aimed to systematically gather empirical data on the link between social anxiety disorder and ADHD in both clinical and non-clinical populations among adolescents and adults.Method: Literature searches were conducted in PsycInfo, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, resulting in 1,739 articles. After screening, 41 articles were included. Results were summarized using a narrative approach.Results: The prevalence of ADHD in adolescents and adults with SAD ranged from 1.1% to 72.3%, while the prevalence of SAD in those with ADHD ranged from 0.04% to 49.5%. Studies indicate that individuals with both SAD and ADHD exhibit greater impairments. All studies were judged to be of weak quality, except for two studies which were rated moderate quality.Discussion: Individuals with SAD should be screened for ADHD and vice versa, to identify this common comorbidity earlier. Further research is needed to better understand the prevalence of comorbid ADHD and SAD in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate individual effects of a three-week sleep robot intervention in adults with ADHD and insomnia, and to explore participants’ experiences with the intervention. METHODS: A proof-of-concept study with a mixed-methods design (n = 6, female = 4) where a repeated ABA single-case study was combined with interviews. Data were collected with the Consensus Sleep Diary, wrist actigraphy, questionnaires on symptoms of insomnia, arousal, emotional distress, and ADHD, and through individual interviews. RESULTS: Visual analysis of the sleep diary and actigraphy variables did not support any effects from the robot intervention. Half of participants reported clinically relevant reductions on the Insomnia Severity Index from pre- to post-intervention. No changes regarding ADHD or arousal. Thematic analysis of the interviews resulted in three themes: (1) A pleasant companion, (2) Too much/not enough, and (3) A new routine. CONCLUSION: Adjustments of the intervention ought to be made to match the needs of patients with both ADHD and insomnia before the next trial is conducted.

Introduction: The study aimed to explore characteristics of responders to a sleep robot intervention for adults with insomnia, and the likelihood that participants responded to the intervention. Methods: Data from the intervention and the control group in a randomized waitlist-controlled trial (n = 44) were pooled together after both had undergone the intervention. A repeated measures ANOVA and Friedman tests were used to explore changes over time. Differences in baseline characteristics between responders (n = 13), defined as a reduction of -5 on the Insomnia Severity Index from pre- to post-intervention, and non-responders (n = 31) were analyzed with t-tests and chi-square tests. Finally, logistic regression models were estimated.Results: Baseline anxiety was the only statistically significant difference between responders and non-responders (p = 0.03). A logistic regression model with anxiety and sleep quality as predictors was statistically significant, correctly classifying 83.3% of cases. Discussion: The results imply that people with lower anxiety and higher sleep quality at baseline are more likely to report clinically significant improvements in insomnia from the sleep robot intervention.

The impact factor is used to rank the quality of scientific journals but has been criticised for a number of reasons. The aim of the study was to investigate sleep researchers' perceptions of sleep journals to determine whether subjective rankings of journals were in line with the journals' impact factors. Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports website was used to identify journals containing the words 'sleep' or 'dream' in the titles with an impact factor since 2018, resulting in 12 journals. A survey including questions about how the respondent would rank these journals (e.g., three most prestigious journals) was developed. A total of 122 sleep researchers completed the survey. Sleep, Sleep Medicine Reviews and Journal of Sleep Research were ranked as the three most prestigious sleep journals, in line with the impact factors of the journals. For the rest of the journals, the subjective rankings and impact factors did not correspond as much.

Objective: To investigate Internet forum users’ views and experiences of melatonin treatments for troubled sleep. Design: A thematic analysis of online disclosures about melatonin treatments was conducted. Setting: The largest Swedish Internet forum (Flashback.org). Key search terms were melatonin and circadin/cirkadin. Results: The search generated 2669 posts from 857 unique profiles in 174 different threads, posted between September 2004 and January 2021. The thematic analysis resulted in 4 themes: (1) being one's own pharmacist, (2) wanted and unwanted effects, (3) history of unmet needs, and (4) national guidelines and clinical practice in Sweden. Conclusions: The current study suggests that experiences with melatonin treatments are diverse, and the views on exogenous melatonin polarized, albeit with a general consensus on the importance of individual factors when it comes to administration and efficacy. The study also suggests that there is an extensive off-label use of melatonin (eg, younger patients and longer treatment periods than indicated). More studies on melatonin treatments are warranted to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and clinical practice.

The Somnox sleep robot is promoted as sleep enhancing. The currentstudy investigated individual effects, the acceptability and the safety of, andexperiences with, a 3-week intervention in adults with insomnia. A repeatedABA single-case design (n = 4) was used to evaluate the effects of the sleeprobot compared with baseline, as measured with a sleep diary and actigraphy.Pre-, post-, and 1-month follow-up assessments were conducted, measuringsymptoms of insomnia, level of somatic arousal, and symptoms of depressionand anxiety. Questions about adherence were included in the sleep diary.Individual interviews were conducted post intervention to explore theparticipants’ experiences with the sleep robot. The sleep diary and actigraphydata showed marginal differences, and if something, often a slight deteriorationin the intervention phase. Three participants reported improvements regardingtheir sleep in the interviews compared with baseline, which mirrored theresults on the questionnaires (insomnia and arousal) for two of the participants.The same three participants adhered to the intervention. Stable or improvedself-assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety, and information fromthe individual interviews, suggest that the intervention is safe for adults withinsomnia. The results regarding the effects of the sleep robot were mixed, andought to be scrutinized in larger studies before confident recommendationscan be made. However, the study supports the acceptability and safety of theintervention in adults with insomnia.