Effectiveness of an internet-based intervention to improve sleep difficulties in a culturally diverse sample of international students: A randomised controlled pilot study

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Kerstin Spanhel
  • Daniela Burdach
  • Teresa Pfeiffer
  • Dirk Lehr
  • Kai Spiegelhalder
  • David D. Ebert
  • Harald Baumeister
  • Juergen Bengel
  • Lasse B. Sander

Sleep difficulties are widespread among international students. Internet-based interventions are suggested as a low-threshold treatment option but may require cultural adaptation among culturally diverse populations. The present pilot study investigated the effectiveness and acceptance of an internet-based intervention to improve sleep difficulties in international students. A total of 81 international students of 36 nationalities were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 41) or waitlist control group (n = 40). The intervention group received immediate access to a culturally non-adapted unguided internet-based sleep intervention consisting of three modules based on sleep hygiene and cognitive techniques to reduce rumination. At baseline, 4 and 12 weeks after randomisation, insomnia severity, measured by the Insomnia Severity Index, and secondary outcomes (sleep quality, depression, anxiety, perceived stress, well-being, presenteeism, mental health literacy) were assessed. Data were analysed using linear multi-level analyses. Additionally, satisfaction and perceived cultural appropriateness of the intervention were evaluated by international students after 4 weeks, and compared with ratings of German students, who represent the original target group. Insomnia severity improved over time in the intervention group compared to the control group, revealing a significant estimated mean difference of −5.60 (Hedges’ g = 0.84, p < 0.001) after 12 weeks. Satisfaction and perceived cultural appropriateness was high and comparable to that of German students. The present study shows that a culturally non-adapted internet-based sleep intervention can be a low-threshold treatment option to help meet the high demand for mental healthcare among international students. It thus indicates that cultural adaptation might not represent a precondition for providing effective internet-based sleep interventions to this target group.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummere13493
ZeitschriftJournal of Sleep Research
Jahrgang31
Ausgabenummer2
Anzahl der Seiten12
ISSN0962-1105
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.04.2022

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Forschende

  1. Stefan Schröder

Publikationen

  1. Corrosion behavior of Mg-Gd-Zn based alloys in aqueous NaCl solution
  2. Die Computerspielnutzung Heranwachsender aus Elternsicht unter dem Blickwinkel der Habitustheorie
  3. Remote sensing
  4. The Manager’s Job at BP
  5. A guide to training your own horses
  6. Education for Sustainable Consumption through Mindfulness
  7. The motivational benefits of specific versus general optimism.
  8. § 175
  9. Do high incomes reflect individual performance?
  10. Of sustainability and storytelling - An introduction to this book
  11. From Critique to Problems and the Politics of the In-act with Bergson, Deleuze and James
  12. Exploring teachers' mental health literacy: An exploratory study on teachers' experiences, cooperation partners, self-efficacy, and knowledge related to students' mental health problems
  13. Ground Truthing in Digital Technoculture
  14. Ästhetische Spannung als Zukunftsungewissheit?
  15. Indigenous and Local Communities' initiatives have transformative potential to guide shifts toward sustainability in South America
  16. Corporate Volunteering als Instrument zur strategischen Implementierung von Corporate Social Responsibility
  17. Postretirement Career Planning
  18. Exports, R&D and productivity: a test of the Bustos-model with German enterprise data
  19. Expatriate Management
  20. Gesundheit im Unternehmen
  21. Sustainable software products—Towards assessment criteria for resource and energy efficiency
  22. Camouflagen des Computers
  23. ‘A Spinozist Sort of Solidarity: From Homo-Nationalism to Queer Internationalism’, in: "Interface: a journal for and about social movements", Volume 6, Issue 2 (November 2014) pp.224-229
  24. An environmentally friendly procedure to obtain flavonoids from Brazilian citrus waste
  25. Ethik
  26. Ecosystem services and sustainability: descriptive means, normative goals and societal transformations