Sleep Interventions and the Prevention of Pediatric Anxiety: A Systematic Review.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Anxiety disorders are prevalent in children, adolescents, and young adults. As many youth either do not receive adequate intervention or do not achieve remission, prevention of anxiety disorders is a public health priority. Sleep problems are a modifiable risk factor that precedes anxiety. This systematic review includes recent pediatric sleep interventions and anxiety outcomes, and introduces anxiety sensitivity as an understudied mechanism.

RECENT FINDINGS: In 21 intervention and experimental studies, sleep intervention reduced anxiety symptoms/disorders and the onset of anxiety disorders. Three additional recent studies examined anxiety sensitivity in the relationship between sleep problems and anxiety, supporting the inclusion of anxiety sensitivity in future research studies. Sleep health is a scalable, accessible target for reducing anxiety and is an important part of pediatric anxiety prevention. Sleep treatments can be brief and implemented in psychiatric practice. Future research studies should consider anxiety sensitivity as a potential mechanism.