Research Projects
We endeavour to understand how sleep affects our daily function and our physical and mental well-being. Our ultimate goals are to translate research into practice and to inform the development of treatments and interventions to improve sleep and health.
Key Research Areas
Circadian Rhythm
Sleep & Cognition
Sleep Disorders
Sleep Interventions
Current Projects
Treatment study for Depression in Youths with Delayed Sleep Phase (DELAY Trial)
The goal of this prospective randomised controlled trial is to examine the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy and bright light therapy in youths with unipolar depression and evening chronotype. The study aimed to examine the efficacy of CBT-D and CBT-D with bright light therapy in reducing depression severity in adolescents with depression and eveningness?
Treatment Study for Insomnia in Pregnant Women with Comorbid Insomnia and Depression
This study aims to test the efficacy of group-based cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and app-based CBT-I (developed by a group of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists) in combination with usual care (UC) in reducing the severity of insomnia and depression in pregnant women with comorbid insomnia and depression, when compared with UC plus group-based health-related psychoeducation control. This study also examines the effects of group-based CBT-I and app-based CBT-I on subjective and objective sleep and mood measures, quality of life measures as well as mother-infant-relationship.
Treatment study for Insomnia for Youths on Impulsivity and Risk taking Behaviour
The study aims to test the effects of CBT-I on impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors in adolescents, assessed by both self-report and objective measures when compared with the psychoeducation control. We also examine whether changes in sleep mediate the changes in impulsivity in youths with insomnia.
An Eye-tracking Study on Attentional Bias in Insomnia
This study proposes to compare the level of threat- and sleep-related attentional bias in youth with and without insomnia. More importantly, we comprehensively analyze individuals’ attentional eye-gaze patterns in response to threat- and sleep-related information using advanced eye-tracking technology.
Reward processing and eveningness in youth depression: A longitudinal EEG investigation
The primary objective of this study is to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of youth depression and eveningness chronotype, with a particular focus on investigating whether eveningness contributes to deficits in reward processing among adolescents. The research will primarily employ polysomnography (PSG) and electroencephalography (EEG) techniques to examine sleep patterns and neural activity associated with reward processing in adolescents exhibiting an evening chronotype. Moreover, this study adopts a longitudinal design to investigate the temporal dynamics of these factors and their potential changes over time.
Pathophysiology of Adolescent Insomnia and Depression: A Case-control Study
The study aims to examine the role of hyperarousal in adolescent insomnia and depression. Hyperarousal, reflected by cognitive reactivity, cortical activities, and stress level. We aim to understand the pathophysiology of adolescent insomnia and depression by assessing biological samples, sleep quality, and questionnaires.
Sleep Variability, Eveningness, and Depression in Adolescents: A Case-control Study
The study aimed to explore how eveningness and depression can differentially affect sleep variability in adolescents and how they can work together to contribute to irregular sleep. The study also examined the association between sleep variability and other sleep and mental health problems (e.g., insomnia, suicidal ideation).
Treatment Study for Insomnia in Adolescents with ADHD
This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in reducing insomnia severity in adolescents with ADHD and insomnia when compared with the waiting-list control. This study also examines the effects of the treatment on adolescents’ sleep, emotion regulation ability, and psychological well-being.
Completed Projects
