Psychosocial factors related to sleep in adolescents and their willingness to participate in the development of a healthy sleep intervention: a focus group study

BACKGROUND: Over the last decades, adolescents’ sleep has deteriorated, suggesting the need for effective healthy sleep interventions. To develop such interventions, it is important to first gather insight into the possible factors related to sleep. Moreover, previous research has indicated that chances of intervention effectivity could be increased by actively involving adolescents when developing such interventions. This study examined psychosocial factors related to sleep in adolescents and investigated adolescents’ willingness to participate in the development of a healthy sleep intervention. METHODS: Nine focus group interviews were conducted with seventy-two adolescents (63.9% girls, 14.8 (± 1.0) years) using a standardized interview guide. Interviews were audio-recorded and thematic content analysis was performed using Nvivo 11. RESULTS: Adolescents showed limited knowledge concerning sleep guidelines, sleep hygiene and the long-term consequences of sleep deficiency, but they demonstrated adequate knowledge of the short-term consequences. Positive attitudes towards sleep were outweighed by positive attitudes towards other behaviors such as screen time. In addition, adolescents reported leisure activities, the use of smartphones and television, high amounts of schoolwork, early school start time and excessive worrying as barriers for healthy sleep. Perceived behavioral control towards changing sleep was reported to be low and norms about sufficient sleep among peers were perceived as negative. Although some adolescents indicated that parental rules provoke feelings of frustration, others indicated these have a positive influence on their sleep. Finally, adolescents emphasized that it would be important to allow students to participate in the development process of healthy sleep interventions at school, although adult supervision would be necessary. CONCLUSION: Future interventions promoting healthy sleep in adolescents could focus on enhancing knowledge of sleep guidelines, sleep hygiene and the consequences of sleep deficiency, and on enhancing perceived behavioral control towards changing sleep. Interventions could also focus on prioritizing positive sleep attitudes over positive attitudes towards screen time, finding solutions for barriers towards healthy sleep and creating a positive perceived norm regarding healthy sleep. Involving adolescents in intervention development could lead to intervention components that match their specific needs and are more attractive for them. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-14278-3.