Improving Children's Sleep Habits Using an Interactive Smartphone App: Community-Based Intervention Study

Abstract

Background: Sleep problems are quite common among young children and are often a challenge for parents and a hinderance to children's development. Although behavioral therapy has proven effective in reducing sleep problems in children, a lack of access to professionals who can provide effective support is a major barrier for many caregivers. Therefore, pediatric sleep experts have begun developing apps and web-based services for caregivers. Despite the substantial influence of cultural and familial factors on children's sleep, little effort has gone into developing cultural or family-tailored interventions.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the interactive smartphone app "Nenne Navi," which provides culturally and family-tailored suggestions for improving sleep habits in young Japanese children through community-based long-term trials. The study also aimed to investigate the association between app-driven improvements in sleep and mental development in children.

Methods: This study adopted a community-based approach to recruit individuals from the Higashi-Osaka city (Japan) who met ≥1 of the following eligibility criteria for sleep problems: sleeping after 10 PM, getting <9 hours of nighttime sleep, and experiencing frequent nighttime awakenings. A total of 87 Japanese caregivers with young children (mean 19.50, SD 0.70 months) were recruited and assigned to the app use group (intervention group) or the video-only group (control group). Both groups received educational video content regarding sleep health literacy. The caregivers in the intervention group used the app, which provides family-tailored suggestions, once per month for 1 year.

Results: A total of 92% (33/36) of the caregivers in the app use group completed 1 year of the intervention. The participants' overall evaluation of the app was positive. The wake-up time was advanced (base mean 8:06 AM; post mean 7:48 AM; F_1,65=6.769; P=.01 and sleep onset latency was decreased (base mean 34.45 minutes; post mean 20.05 minutes; F_1,65=23.219; P<.001) significantly in the app use group at the 13th month compared with the video-only group. Moreover, multiple regression analysis showed that decreased social jetlag (β=-0.302; P=.03) and increased sleep onset latency SD (β=.426; P=.02) in children predicted a significant enhancement in the development of social relationships with adults. At 6 months after the completion of the app use, all the caregivers reported continuation of the new lifestyle.

Conclusions: The present findings suggest that the app "Nenne Navi" has high continuity in community use and can improve sleep habits in young Japanese children and that interventions for sleep habits of young children may lead to the enhancement of children's social development. Future studies must focus on the effectiveness of the app in other regions with different regional characteristics and neuroscientific investigations on how changes in sleep impact brain development.

Keywords: app; behavioral intervention; infant sleep; mHealth; mobile health; mobile phone; sleep health; social implementation.