{
  "abstract": "Introduction Chronic sleep restriction is common during military training, jeopardising the mental health (MH) and operational effectiveness of personnel. Efforts to address this issue through uni-modal interventions have shown minimal benefit (Baldus, 2002; Rawcliffe et al., 2025). This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-modal sleep intervention on sleep and MH outcomes during infantry recruit basic training.Methods A total of 83 participants (n 40 control [CON]; n 43 experimental [EXP]) consented following Ministry of Defence research ethics approval. Self-reported sleep duration and quality (PSQI), insomnia (ISI) and depression (CES-D) were collected from validated surveys. Following a 3-week baseline, the sleep intervention (weeks 4-12) included psychoeducation, structured pre-bedtime routines, increased sleep opportunity (~40mins daily) and enhanced environmental sleep hygiene. Data were descriptively analysed (mean±SD) and linear mixed-models evaluated differences in sleep and MH outcomes between EXP and CON (no sleep intervention) and across training week.Results No significant baseline differences were observed, yet both groups reported clinically relevant depression and insomnia (score ≥ 10), and inadequate (< 6 hrs) sleep duration of ‘very poor’ quality. Compared to CON, significantly longer sleep duration was observed for EXP (p<0.01, 00:34 ± 00:13 hm), with a significantly greater proportion reporting ‘fairly good’ sleep quality (p<0.01, 36% vs 13%) throughout the intervention period. Between baseline and intervention periods, EXP reported an average 5-point reduction in insomnia (±1.0) and depression (±0.7) vs <1-point difference in CON. A significantly greater proportion of EXP vs CON reported depression scores of <8 (80% vs 33%) and insomnia <7 (82% vs 32%), reflecting minimal-to-no symptoms upon completion of training.Discussion/Conclusion Preliminary findings suggest a pragmatic; multi-modal sleep intervention significantly improves sleep and MH outcomes during training. Meaningful reductions in insomnia and depressive symptoms, sustained over time, indicate strong potential for scalable integration into military basic training.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Army Recruit Health and Performance Research, Medical Branch, HQ Army Individual Training Command, Ministry of Defence, Upavon, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Alex Rawcliffe"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Army Recruit Health and Performance Research, Medical Branch, HQ Army Individual Training Command, Ministry of Defence, Upavon, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Henry Martin"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Army Recruit Health and Performance Research, Medical Branch, HQ Army Individual Training Command, Ministry of Defence, Upavon, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Enoch Ratna"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Army Recruit Health and Performance Research, Medical Branch, HQ Army Individual Training Command, Ministry of Defence, Upavon, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Andrew Roberts"
    }
  ],
  "title": "O10 The effects of a multi-model intervention for optimising sleep and mental health outcomes during British army infantry basic training",
  "uid": "4f3cbc78-bcfe-579d-863b-074fca9271b3"
}