Context: Insomnia is a major health problem with significant psychological, health, and economic consequences. However, availability to one of the most effective insomnia treatments, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is significantly limited. The Internet may be a key conduit for delivering this intervention. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a structured behavioral Internet intervention for adults with insomnia. Design, Setting, and Participants: 45 adults were randomly assigned to an Internet intervention (n=22) or wait-list control group (n=23). 44 eligible participants were included in the analyses (mean age, 44.86±11.03 years; 34 women), who had, on average, a history of sleep difficulties greater than 10 years (10.59±8.89). Intervention: The Internet intervention is based on well-established face-to-face CBT, incorporating the primary components of sleep restriction, stimulus control, sleep hygiene, cognitive restructuring, and relapse prevention. Main Outcome Measure(s): The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and daily sleep diary data were used to determine changes in insomnia severity and the main sleep variables, including wake after sleep onset (WASO) and sleep efficiency (SE). Results: Intent-to-treat analyses showed that scores on the ISI significantly improved from 15.73 (95% CI, 14.07-17.39) to 6.59 (95% CI, 4.73-8.45) for the Internet group, but did not change for the control group, 16.27 (95% CI, 14.61-17.94) to 15.50 (95% CI, 13.64-17.36), F (1, 42) = 29.64, p<.001. The Internet group maintained their gains at six month follow-up. Internet participants also achieved significant decreases in WASO (55%; 95% CI, 34%-76%) and increases in SE (16%; 95% CI, 9%-22%) compared to the non-significant control group changes of WASO (8%; 95% CI, −17%-33%) and SE (3%; 95% CI, −4%-9%). Conclusions: Participants who received the Internet intervention for insomnia significantly improved their sleep, whereas the control group did not change. The Internet appears to have considerable potential in delivering a structured behavioral program for insomnia.

Although the Internet is commonly used by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth to explore aspects of sexual health, little is known about how this usage relates to offline explorations and experiences. This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the interplay between online and offline explorations of multiple dimensions of sexual health, which include sexually transmitted infections, sexual identities, romantic relationships, and sexual behaviors. A diverse community sample of 32 LGBT youth (ages 16-24) completed semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed and then qualitatively coded to identify themes. Results indicated that, although many participants evaluated online sexual health resources with caution, they frequently used the Internet to compensate for perceived limitations in offline resources and relationships. Some participants turned to the Internet to find friends and romantic partners, citing the relative difficulty of establishing offline contact with LGBT peers. Further, participants perceived the Internet as an efficient way to discover offline LGBT events and services relevant to sexual health. These results suggest that LGBT youth are motivated to fill gaps in their offline sexual health resources (e.g., books and personal communications) with online information. The Internet is a setting that can be harnessed to provide support for the successful development of sexual health.

OBJECTIVEWe developed a field procedure using personal digital assistant (PDA) technology to test the hypothesis that naturally occurring episodes of hypo- and hyperglycemia are associated with deterioration in cognitive function in children with type 1 diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA total of 61 children aged 6–11 years with type 1 diabetes received a PDA programmed with two brief cognitive tests (mental math and choice reaction time), which they completed just before home glucose readings. The computer recorded time to complete each test and number of correct responses. Children completed several trials per day over 4–6 weeks for a total of 70 trials. Performance variables were compared across glucose ranges. Individual impairment scores (IISs) were also computed for each child by calculating the SD between performance during euglycemia and that during glucose extremes.RESULTSTime to complete both mental math and reaction time was significantly longer during hypoglycemia. During hyperglycemia, time to complete math was significantly longer and reaction time was marginally significant (P = 0.053). There were no differences on task accuracy. Decline in mental math performance was equivalent at glucose levels <3.0 and >22.2 mmol/l. IISs varied greatly across children, with no age or sex differences.CONCLUSIONSA decrease in mental efficiency occurs with naturally occurring hypo- and hyperglycemic glucose fluctuations in children with type 1 diabetes, and this effect can be detected with a field procedure using PDA technology. With blood glucose levels >22.2 mmol/l, cognitive deterioration equals that associated with significant hypoglycemia.

Recent theories of psychopathology have suggested that thought suppression intensifies the persistence of intrusive thoughts, and proposed that difficulty with thought suppression may differ between groups with and without psychopathology. The current meta-analytic review evaluates empirical evidence for difficulty with thought suppression as a function of the presence and specific type of psychopathology. Based on theoretical proposals from the psychopathology literature, diagnosed and analogue samples were expected to show greater recurrence of intrusive thoughts during thought suppression attempts than non-clinical samples. However, results showed no overall differences in the recurrence of thoughts due to thought suppression between groups with and without psychopathology. There was, nevertheless, variation in the recurrence of thoughts across different forms of psychopathology, including relatively less recurrence during thought suppression for samples with symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, compared to non-clinical samples. However, these differences were typically small and provided only mixed support for existing theories. Implications for cognitive theories of intrusive thoughts are discussed, including proposed mechanisms underlying thought suppression.