Please complete the screening form below.
We are conducting a research study about how sleep and brain circuits relate to emotion. We hope to learn whether improving sleep will also improve brain function and mood in people who are experiencing depressive symptoms. We are looking for participants between the ages of 25-60 who have been experiencing problems with their mood and sleep. The study consists of 9 different time points (3 in-person assessment sessions and 6 treatment sessions). Each of the 3 in-person assessment sessions consist of a visit during the evening in which we will set you up with sleep monitoring equipment for you to sleep in at your own home and a visit the following morning. To minimize the time that you asked to spend on campus during the pandemic, we have temporarily added an additional Zoom session that will occur prior to the first and last in-person visits. Therefore, the study has a total of 6 in-person visits to Stanford and 6 to 8 Zoom session. All Zoom sessions may be converted back to in-person visits once COVID-19 restrictions ease.
If you are eligible from this phone screen, to further determine eligibility, you will complete additional screening procedures. Specifically, you will complete interviews about your health, mood, and sleep as well as online questionnaires. You will also undergo an overnight sleep recording and Sleep Apnea test. We will set you up with the equipment at the end of the screening session for you to sleep in at your own home. You will then return the next day to drop off the equipment. As mentioned above, due to the pandemic related mitigation measures we have opted to move many pieces of the research involvement to remote format. Therefore, we have temporarily moved the interviews and questionnaires to an initial Zoom session prior to the in-person screen to determine a portion of your eligibility before requiring you to come to campus.
If you are eligible for the study and you wish to continue to participate, you will be enrolled in the study. The next visit will be Baseline Visit, which will again require you to come to campus to conduct another overnight sleep recording. Again, we will set you up with the equipment for you to sleep in at your own home and you will then return the next morning to complete the remainder of the session. The baseline visit will include an MRI after the overnight sleep equipment is removed. After this session, treatment will take place. Treatment will involve meeting with a therapist over Zoom (or possibly in-person as restrictions ease) six times over eight weeks (approximately once a week) to talk about your sleep problem. The final study visit is the end of treatment session. These sessions may include an additional Zoom session (before the in-person visit) to reduce the amount of time you are required to spend on campus. We will ask to repeat some of the tests collected at the initial visits (over Zoom or in-person) and then return to campus in the evening to conduct the final overnight sleep recording. You will then return in the morning to complete the rest of the visit, which will include another MRI and some of the tests that you completed before treatment.
If you do not want to participate in these visits or do not meet the required eligibility requirements, you have other choices. You can talk to your doctor about other treatments for insomnia and for your depressive symptoms. You also may want to continue with your current course of care.
Confidentiality Statement:
The screening interview you are about to begin will be used only for the purpose of determining your eligibility for our study. Before you begin, it’s important to know that your participation is entirely voluntary and there is no cost or payment for participating. You may stop the interview at any time without penalty. This interview will take approximately 20 minutes. If you agree to participate in this interview, you will be asked detailed information about your medical history, psychiatric history, and current psychiatric state. Information you provide about yourself will be kept as confidential as possible as required by law. Your information will be stored in on a secured Stanford server. No part of the information you give with us will be shared with anyone outside of our research team. However, if you appear to be in immediate danger of harming yourself or someone else, we may be required to contact local police to confirm your safety. It is also possible that the Food and Drug Administration, and other federal and state authorities, may inspect our records for security reasons.
The risk in taking part in this interview is very small. It’s possible that some people may feel uncomfortable answering these questions. The information will be kept confidential as noted, but there is a small risk that people outside of the research team could learn this information. The benefit to you is that you will find out whether you can take part in the screening session for our study. Following the interview today, if you do not qualify for our study at this time, you may choose to allow us to contact you about future studies. If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints, please feel free to contact us at 650-721-6089. Or, if you would like general information about your participant rights, you can contact the Stanford Institutional Review Board (1-866-680-2906).