0799 Do Weighted Blankets Improve Sleep Among Children with a History of Trauma? A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial

Abstract Introduction Sleep problems (e.g., trouble falling asleep, nighttime awakenings) are highly prevalent and persistent among children with a history of trauma/ maltreatment and elevate their risk for a range of deleterious outcomes. Weighted blankets have gained popularity in recent years as a potential non-pharmacological intervention for improving sleep in clinical populations of children, but their efficacy has not been examined among children with a history of trauma and/or maltreatment. Therefore, this study explores whether the use of a weighted blanket for sleep improves objective and subjective sleep outcomes among a group of children adopted from foster care (i.e., with a history of trauma/ maltreatment). Methods The current study used a randomized, within-subjects, crossover design where participants used a weighted blanket for two weeks and their usual blanket for two weeks in a counterbalanced order. Participants were N=30 children (63% female), ages 6 to 15 years (M = 9.7, SD = 2.9), adopted from foster care in Texas. Sleep outcomes were measured using actigraphy and subjective sleep diaries. Results Results indicated no meaningful differences in the type of blanket used in either actigraphy-based estimates of total sleep time (t(27) = 0.10, p = .91, d = 0.02), sleep onset latency (t(27) = 0.14512, p = .88, d = 0.03), or wake minutes after sleep onset (t(27) = -0.44, p = .65, d = -0.08), or subjective total sleep time (t(27) = 0.75, p = .45, d = 0.14), sleep onset latency (t(25) = 0.28, p = .78, d = 0.06), or sleep quality ratings (t(26) = 1.97, p = 0.06, d = 0.38). Period effects were also examined for each variable; however, results were all also non-significant with small effect sizes. Child age, biological sex, and timing of participation (school year versus summer months) did not impact outcomes. Conclusion While this study did not find significant differences in sleep outcomes based on type of blanket used, controlled studies using larger samples of children with a history of maltreatment are needed. Support (if any) We thank Luna Blankets (www.lunablanket.com) for donating the weighted blankets used in this study.