Online sleep and anxiety intervention for mothers of infants aged 10–24 months

The control group received only standard monitoring with no additional support. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and anxiety was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory at baseline, 15 days, and 30 days. After 30 days, the intervention group showed clinically meaningful improvements: PSQI scores dropped from 10.4 (±1.8) to 4.9 (±1.2)—a shift from poor to good sleep quality; trait-anxiety fell from 38.2 (±5.1) to 33.5 (±4.5); and state-anxiety decreased from 36.4 (±4.9) to 33.8 (±4.6), all with p<0.05. The control group showed no significant change. The effect sizes suggest the online format and structured content may help mothers in early parenthood manage the sleep disruption and emotional toll of infant care.

The trial tracked two key anxiety measures separately: trait-anxiety (a person's baseline tendency toward worry) and state-anxiety (immediate, situational worry), both of which improved by approximately 4–5 points on their respective scales. This dual improvement suggests the intervention addressed both temperament and acute stress. The gains emerged within 15 days for most participants, with further consolidation by day 30, implying relatively rapid responsiveness to the program. One limitation: the study did not compare the intervention against an active control (such as standard sleep education without the self-efficacy coaching), so it remains unclear whether the specific theoretical approach or simply receiving structured attention and support drove the benefit. The control group's stability—no worsening of sleep or anxiety—also raises the question of whether improvements in the intervention group reflect genuine treatment effect or regression to the mean among mothers initially screened for high distress. Generalizability may be limited to mothers with internet access and comfort using virtual platforms.