Sleep’s Role in Behavioral Health Recognized by Special Issue of IJBM

Tracy Trevorrow, PhD^✉; Sleep SIG Chair and Natasha J. Williams, Ed.D, MPH^✉; Sleep SIG Immediate Past-Chair

It wasn’t long ago that presentations on sleep at SBM’s Annual Meeting were a rarity. Our own Sleep Special Interest Group didn’t exist until 2016. It’s unclear why sleep took so long to be on the radar. Was someone sleeping on the job? Perhaps sleep was not considered as “behavior” or considered a powerful influence on health and well-being. Clearly things have changed.

Appreciation of the role of sleep in health behavior has increased in and outside SBM. From our own calculations, it appears that professional publications on sleep in journals including Annals of Behavioral Medicine have doubled in the past decade and presentations at our Annual Meeting have increased seven-fold. Membership in our Sleep SIG has grown from 22 pioneers to over 220 and continues to grow.

Reflecting the increased recognition of the role of sleep as a health behavior, the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine has dedicated a special issue to sleep science to be published in spring 2020. More than 50 letters of intent were submitted for the special issue: a pleasant surprise for the Editors-in-Chief, Michael Hoyt and Tracey Revenson (now editing Annals of Behavioral Medicine).

As guest editors of this special issue, we have been impressed with the scope and quality of research on sleep in the context of behavioral medicine. While the peer review process is ongoing, it is clear this special issue will include investigations of sleep across a broad range of health challenges, populations and life roles. In addition, readers of this issue will note new directions for developing interventions to promote healthy sleep. This issue will also reflect the international nature of sleep research, as the increased recognition of sleep as integral to behavioral health is not only reflected at SBM, but across the globe. When discussing improvements in health, certainly, sleep will remain integral to the conversation.

We thank the SIG members who have contributed to the peer review process of the special issue.