2007 — 2008 |
Bernert, Rebecca A |
F31Activity Code Description: To provide predoctoral individuals with supervised research training in specified health and health-related areas leading toward the research degree (e.g., Ph.D.). |
Sleep Disturbances as a Suicide Risk Factor @ Florida State University
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. Suicide represents an important, yet preventable public health problem. In 1999, the Surgeon General released a Call to Action to Prevent Suicide. Efforts have increasingly focused on suicide prevention strategies, as well as increased investigations of risk factors for suicidality. A growing area of research includes the study of sleep disturbances and suicide. Changes in sleep are among the top 10 warning signs of acute suicidal risk. Several investigations have found that sleep complaints, such as insomnia, nightmares, and poor self-reported sleep-quality predict increased suicidality. Many of these investigations have failed, however, to examine the association above and beyond the influence of depression. In addition to this, a paucity of research has investigated sleep among more severe suicidal behaviors, such as suicide attempts or completed suicide. Moreover, few studies have investigated the connection between sleep and suicide using objective measurements of sleep. Three proposed studies will examine sleep disturbances as a unique suicide risk factor. Using a longitudinal, population-based sample, the first study will examine the association between poor self-reported sleep quality and risk for completed suicide. The second study will investigate sleep disturbances according to suicidal risk parameters, including suicidal symptom structure and a past history of suicide attempts. The third study will examine the connection between sleep and suicidal ideation using an objective assessment of sleep and a prospective study design. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
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1 |
2012 — 2016 |
Bernert, Rebecca A |
K23Activity Code Description: To provide support for the career development of investigators who have made a commitment of focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research. This mechanism provides support for a 3 year minimum up to 5 year period of supervised study and research for clinically trained professionals who have the potential to develop into productive, clinical investigators. |
A Sleep-Oriented Intervention For Suicidal Behaviors
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching goal of this Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) is to provide the Candidate with comprehensive training to facilitate her independence as an investigator within two distinct, but intersecting fields of study: sleep medicine and suicide prevention. Suicide is a complex, but preventable public health problem, for which research-tested interventions are scarce. Poor sleep has emerged as an empirically-established, modifiable suicide risk factor that is visible, amenable to treatment, and arguably less stigmatized compared to other risk factors. The current proposal will pursue rigorous evaluation of sleep as an intervention tool. It aims to develop a sleep-oriented intervention for suicidal behaviors. A programmatic line of research is proposed to endow the Candidate with critical methodological training in treatment development. Both education and research training plans will cultivate her independence as trialist and suicide preventionist. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the proposed education plan offers career development training across three general areas: (1) Randomized controlled trials (RCT) (design, conduct, analysis) using behavioral interventions, (2) Treatment development methods (manualizing, pilot-testing interventions) in sleep and suicide prevention, and (3) Emotion regulation research to evaluate underlying causal mechanisms, and potential intervention targets, in the study of sleep and suicide risk. Consultation, coursework, didactics, and applied trainings will enable the Candidate to acquire advanced conceptual, methodological, and biostatistical skills across specialty areas. Next, based on theoretical, empirical, and clinical rationale, the proposed research plan outlines two pilot studies to develop a new, sleep-based suicide intervention (SBSI). Development of a novel preventive intervention among this high-risk population is in accordance with several NIMH Strategic Plan Objectives. It will endow the Candidate with applied and explicit training in treatment development and RCT conduct. Study 1 will be a small, open-label pilot focused on SBSI development. SBSI will target sleep complaints known to present risk for suicide by integrating core components from three efficacious treatments: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) will address insomnia symptoms, social rhythms therapy (SRT) will address irregular sleep patterns, and imagery rehearsal treatment (IRT) will address residual nightmares. The protocol will be manualized, evaluated for feasibility, and revised based on focus groups, acceptance, and indications of response. Study 2 will be a randomized controlled pilot study. It will compare SBSI to an active control to evaluate feasibility, acceptance, retention, and preliminary indications of response. To promote the Candidate's career independence, results from these studies are expected to result in application for an R01 RCT in suicide prevention. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Suicide represents a global disease burden that, despite improvements in awareness and treatment, continues to account for more than half of all violent deaths worldwide. In this important research area, even modest symptom improvements may have great clinical significance when the potential outcome to be prevented is death. Given its target of a uniquely modifiable suicide risk factor, development of a novel sleep-based intervention for suicide has public health significance by addressing a gap in the literature wherein efficacious treatments are either few in number, unacceptable to patients (i.e., based on retention rates), or inaccessible to those most in need.
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0.955 |