Treating preschooler behavioural sleep problems via parent-mediated telehealth: A randomized controlled trial

Behavioural sleep problems in the preschool developmental period (ages 3-5 years) are highly prevalent and associated with a myriad of deleterious consequences including anxiety, in the short- and long-term. This study examined a parent-focused behavioural sleep intervention for children aged from 3 to 5 years, delivered individually via three × fortnightly 90-min telehealth (synchronous videoconference) sessions, in terms of its ability to improve child sleep, nighttime fears and anxiety.

Parents of children aged 3 to 5 years (M = 3.57; SD = .56) were randomly allocated to either the Lights Out Videoconference (LOV) or care-as-usual (CAU) conditions and completed measures of child sleep problems, anxiety and nighttime fears at pre-treatment (T1), two weeks post-treatment (T2) and at 3-month follow-up (T3). Parents also completed a measure of treatment satisfaction.

Compared with the CAU condition (n = 16), children whose parents participated in the LOV condition (n = 19) reported a significantly greater reduction in sleep problems, anxiety and nighttime fears from T1 to T2, with treatment effects being maintained at T3. Treatment satisfaction of both the programme, resources and mode of delivery was very high.

A brief, behavioural sleep intervention delivered via videoconferencing for young children is acceptable to parents and represents an efficacious and convenient alternative to face-to-face treatment for sleep that has secondary effects on nighttime fears and broader anxiety issues. Universal Trial Number (UTN): U1111-1264-8191. Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR): 12621000466842 retrospective. The trial was registered retrospectively as the application for registration was submitted after the first participant was registered for the programme. This was a clerical oversite of the authors as to the timing of registration submission. The sleep diaries included in the registration of the trial were not analysed due to significant missing data in the CAU condition. Additionally, some of the secondary outcomes in the trial registry will be published in a separate, paper, which focuses on parents' impressions of the programme and parenting factors.