Grant: Team Grant: Sleep Research Consortium - Sleep and mental health and well-being

Good sleep health is essential to sustain optimal mental and physical well-being. Conversely, poor sleep health and insomnia (the most prevalent of all sleep disorders) can both impair well-being and increase the risk for adverse health outcomes in mental (e.g., depression) and physical domains (e.g., cardiovascular diseases). The overarching goals of the proposed research program are to improve our understanding of poor sleep health and insomnia and their long-term consequences, particularly on mental health, and to develop more effective and more targeted treatments. We will pursue three complementary lines of investigation. Theme 1 (epidemiology and burden) will capitalize on two national health surveys to improve surveillance of poor sleep health and insomnia in Canada. A longitudinal cohort study will examine the course of poor sleep health and insomnia in relation to mental health. Theme 2 (validation of insomnia subtypes) will use novel technology to examine psychological and biological markers of insomnia phenotypes. Theme 3 (intervention) will aim to evaluate treatment responses to cognitive behavioural and medication therapies across insomnia subtypes, defined by the severity of psychological (anxiety/depression) symptoms and sleep duration. Another study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a culturally-adapted non pharmacological intervention for insomnia with an Indigenous community. This program will generate new knowledge about the prevalence and burden of poor sleep health and insomnia and about their association with mental health. It will expand our understanding of the psychological and biological underpinnings of different subtypes of insomnia and how they relate to adverse mental health. This research will also inform clinical practice as to how we can optimize treatment outcomes with more personalized interventions. It will have direct implications for improving sleep and mental health of Indigenous Peoples.