Lonely and sleepless - providing support to children and young people. Visiting researcher at Oxford Brookes University.

In this project, a collaboration between Kristianstad University and Oxford Brookes University, we are investigating the link between loneliness and sleep difficulties in children and adolescents, and how support can be designed. Loneliness and sleep difficulties are increasing concerns among children and youth.

Previous research has examined these concepts separately.

Existential loneliness among adolescents is a major research project led by me at Kristianstad University, as well as the Forte-funded project Promoting Teenage Sleep. Dr. Bekaert from Oxford Brookes University spent a month as a visiting researcher at Kristianstad University 2024.

During this visit, we initiated the research project on loneliness and sleep difficulties in children and young people.The purpose is to maintain an existing collaboration between Kristianstad University and Oxford Brookes University, where researchers, teachers, and students from each institution regularly spend time at each other´s locations.

This has resulted in joint publications and research applications. Kristianstad University is a small regional institution.

It is of great importance that researchers, doctoral students, teachers, and students benefit from exchanges with larger institutions in a global context.

Visits by teachers, researchers, and students to each other´s institutions, and not only through email and digital video meetings, create space for creative processes and maintaining contact.

By meeting regularly, one can maintain contact with the help of digital tools in between.During this visit, manuscripts for 2-3 scientific articles will be written, a book chapter will be developed, and a Marie Curie application for a doctoral network will be prepared.

The implementation of the "Promoting Teenage Sleep" project will be discussed for the incorporation of sleep education in British schools. The stay provides an opportunity to deepen knowledge regarding sleep and loneliness in children and young people.