Students put off bedtime less after one short group session, but groups weren't compared

No comparison
After one group session on self-kindness, students put off bed less, but students with no training did a little too.
Small trial of 74 college students who put off bedtime · no comparison group · they rated themselves · ⚠ not yet checked by other scientists; unclear how groups were picked; many people dropped out; numbers unreliable; groups weren't properly compared
No comparison
After one group session on how sleep works and sleep habits, students put off bedtime less, but groups weren't compared.
Small trial of 74 college students who put off bedtime · no comparison group · they rated themselves · ⚠ not yet checked by other scientists; unclear how groups were picked; many people dropped out; numbers unreliable; groups weren't properly compared

The study

Who took part

College students in the US who were unhappy about going to bed later than they meant to. 93 started and 74 were counted at the end; almost 9 in 10 were women.

What they did

One group had a single 1-hour online group meeting on being kind to themselves. A second group had a 1-hour online meeting on how sleep works and good sleep habits. Both then got six optional home practices by email over 3 weeks. A third group got no training.

What happened

About four weeks later, all three groups said they put off bedtime less. The sleep-habits group dropped the most, then the self-kindness group, then the no-training group. The paper never tested whether the groups differed. Almost 4 in 10 people in the sleep-habits group dropped out. It isn't clear how people were put into groups, and the paper wasn't checked by other scientists.

Source

Brief Multimodal Intervention to Address Bedtime Procrastination and Sleep through Self-Compassion and Sleep Hygiene during Stressful Times (2023)

DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.16.23288655

Tools in this study

Action3
Do a short self-compassion exercise
Self-compassion practice as the target behaviour or tool.
Action
Go to bed
Bedtime as the target behaviour.
Rule · when3
Before going to bed
Done in the period before sleep.
Rule · with whom
Practise with a group
Group sessions or group practice.
Action
Practise healthier sleep habits
Sleep-related habits in general.
Action4
Learn how the problem works
Psychoeducation about procrastination, habits, sleep, routines or ADHD.