Recent Sleep Publications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jedc.2018.08.003 This paper uses a single-sector dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model to analyze time use patterns over the business cycle. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, we solve and simulate a model of a utility maximizing consumer subject to a penalty function based on a biological model for sleep. We find that sleep is countercyclical with the business cycle: sleep increases as economic activity declines. We also show that our model provides a reasonable estimate of observed sleep behavior over the period from 2003 through 2016. Our results suggest that separating sleep from other non-work activities is a useful and productive exercise for these types of models.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208043. This paper introduces a new model of sleep for mammals. It extends the classic ‘two-process’ model of sleep to account for differences in external circumstances. We apply this model to previously-collected data on elephants and sloths, comparing sleep patterns in the wild with sleep patterns in captivity. We find that the model does very well in explaining sleeping patterns for both types of animals, in both the captive state and in the wild state.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/02724316231223529 This study examined the relationship between the accuracy of parental reporting of children’s sleep duration compared to objectively measured child sleep and tested whether any discrepancies were related to childhood obesity prevalence in a sample of Latinx families (N = 119). A paired sample t-test revealed that parents significantly overestimated their child’s sleep duration by 1.33 hours, t(86) = 6.69, p < .001. Using a one-way ANOVA, no significant differences were found in children’s BMI percentile when grouped by the parent’s accuracy of their child’s sleep duration F(3, 83) = .76, p = .52. A potential, although non-significant, trend regarding parent accuracy and child BMI may merit further examination. Future research should seek to determine if the discrepancy in parent reported child sleep duration is indeed linked with increased child BMI and if this knowledge could be used in targeted intervention efforts to reduce childhood obesity.

https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12857 This study evaluated adolescents' evening patterns in activities, social contact, and location to better understand antecedents to adolescents' sleep onset time (SOT). The SOT is important for sleep duration and related health outcomes. Using a nationally representative sample of 15- to 18-year-old adolescents from the American Time Use Survey (N = 10,341; 47% female; 57% white), structural equation modeling demonstrated that late SOTs mediated links between evening activities, social contact, locations, and shorter sleep durations. Passive leisure, time in public locations, and time with friends late in the evenings were associated with later SOTs, whereas homework and active leisure did not. Parents and practitioners can use this information to carefully evaluate evening activities, social contact, and location to support healthy SOTs for adolescents across time.

https://www.dovepress.com/articles.php?article_id=82436 Sleep valuation is the relative worth individuals place on sleep. Our prior study using a Sleep Valuation Item Bank (SVIB) showed that sleep valuation relates to age, gender, and health status. In this study, the psychometric properties of the SVIB and its latent factor structure were explored. We also investigated how sleep valuation factors relate to demographic, psychological, and sleep features.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsle.2023.1125054/full In the 1980s, Patricia Lacks (February 22, 1941–December 3, 2016) began a systematic program of research at Washington University in St. Louis to identify the causes of insomnia and effective treatments. Her treatment outcomes research culminated in the publication of the first detailed cognitive-behavioral treatment manual for insomnia, Behavioral Treatment for Persistent Insomnia. This paper focuses on the history of Dr. Lacks and her contributions to the field of insomnia research and practice.

https://doi.org/10.1113/JP284911 Short sleep duration is associated with heightened cardiometabolic disease risk and has reached epidemic proportions among children, adolescents and adults. Potential mechanisms underlying this association are complex and multifaceted, including disturbances in circadian timing, food intake and appetitive hormones, brain regions linked to control of hedonic eating, physical activity, an altered microbiome and impaired insulin sensitivity. Sleep extension, or increasing total sleep duration, is an emerging and ecologically relevant intervention with significant potential to advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the association between short sleep duration and the risk of cardiometabolic disease. If effective, sleep extension interventions have potential to improve cardiometabolic health across the lifespan. Existing data show that sleep extension is feasible and might have potential cardiometabolic health benefits, although there are limitations that the field must overcome. Notably, most existing studies are short term (2–8 weeks), use different sleep extension strategies, analyse a wide array of cardiometabolic health outcomes in different populations and, frequently, lack adequate statistical power, thus limiting robust scientific conclusions. Overcoming these limitations will require fully powered, randomized studies conducted in people with habitual short sleep duration and existing cardiometabolic risk factors. Additionally, randomized controlled trials comparing different sleep extension strategies are essential to determine the most effective interventions. Ongoing and future research should focus on elucidating the potential cardiometabolic health benefits of sleep extension. Such studies have high potential to generate crucial knowledge with potential to improve health and quality of life for those struggling with short sleep duration.

https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad318 This study examines the impact of sleep duration, bedtime, and sleep disturbance during early childhood on the risk of cardiometabolic disorder (CMD) in early adolescence.

https://doi.org/10.1017/slp.2023.7 Understanding the intricate relationship between sleep, circadian rhythms and psychological development is a pressing question within the field of Sleep Psychology. This initiative calls upon researchers to submit manuscripts that contribute to answering the fundamental query, “What is the role of sleep and circadian rhythms in psychological development?” By delving into the intersection of sleep and psychological development, we aim to illuminate this critical connection and its implications for human well-being. Specifically, it is our hope that through addressing this question, we can better design and tailor interventions that aim to enhance psychological well-being across the lifespan.

Background: Sleep is critical for physical, mental, and emotional health. This may be particularly true for adolescents experiencing rapid physiological changes. Relatively little is known about how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are implicated in adolescent experiences with sleep.

https://doi.org/10.3389/frsle.2023.1177878 Aspects of circadian sleep health including circadian alignment, circadian phase, or chronotype may be related to mental health outcomes in adolescents. Using novel and robust data collection methods, this study explored the relationship between adolescents' circadian sleep health and traits related to depression, anxiety, stress, and emotional regulation.

https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad036 Poor sleep in adolescents can increase the risk of obesity, possibly due to changes in dietary patterns. Prior neuroimaging evidence, mostly in adults, suggests that lacking sleep results in increased response to food cues in reward-processing brain regions. Needed is a clarification of the mechanisms by which food reward processing is altered by the kind of chronic sleep restriction (SR) typically experienced by adolescents. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of sleep duration on response to visual food stimuli in healthy adolescents using functional neuroimaging, hypothesizing increased reward processing response after SR compared to a well-rested condition.

http://dx.doi.org.byu.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/cpp0000477 Text messaging is a promising weight loss intervention modality for emerging adults who are overweight, but few studies exist to guide intervention development. Furthermore, sleep is emerging as a salient intervention target for weight management. This study examines feasibility and acceptability of two text messaging interventions for weight control in emerging adults, one of which includes sleep intervention content. Methods: Forty-three emerging adults who were overweight (BMI ≥ 25 < 30; ages 18–21) were randomized to receive either a text messaging intervention focused on diet and physical activity change, or a text messaging intervention designed to modify sleep behavior plus diet and physical activity. The interventions included motivational interviewing, education around health behaviors, physical activity, and dietary goal setting, as well as sleep goals for those in the sleep condition. All participants self-monitored diet, physical activity, and weight via text message for 3 months; those in the sleep intervention monitored nightly sleep duration. Results: Intervention acceptability and engagement were high for both conditions. In exploratory analyses, we observed that body mass index remained stable across assessments, regardless of condition. Participants in the sleep modification condition showed significantly greater sleep duration from pre- to post-intervention than those in the standard intervention. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a weight loss intervention delivered by text messaging, including components designed to improve sleep, is acceptable and feasible for emerging adults who are overweight, and that extended sleep duration may be a benefit of the sleep modification intervention.

http://dx.doi.org.byu.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/jsr.13806 Short sleep increases the risk for obesity in adolescents. One potential mechanism relates to when eating occurs in the day. This study investigated the impact of shortened sleep on eating occasion timing in adolescents. Ninety‐three healthy 14‐ to 17‐year‐olds (62% female) completed a within‐subject experimental sleep manipulation, engaging in 5‐night spans of Short Sleep (6.5‐hr sleep opportunity) or Healthy Sleep (9.5‐hr sleep opportunity), with order randomized. During each condition, adolescents completed three 24‐hr diet recall interviews. Repeated‐measure t‐tests assessed the sleep manipulation effect on each adolescent's number of meals, first and last eating occasion (relative to the clock and time since sleep onset/offset), feeding window (timespan from first to last eating), and the midpoint of feeding. The timing of the first eating occasion was similar across conditions, relative to the clock (Short = 08:51, Healthy = 08:52) and to time since waking (Short = 2.0 hr, Healthy = 2.2 hr). The timing of the last eating occasion was later relative to the clock (Short = 20:34, Healthy = 19:39; p < 0.001), resulting in a longer feeding window (Short = 11.7 hr, Healthy = 10.8 hr, p < 0.001) and a later midpoint in the feeding window (Short = 14:41, Healthy = 14:18, p = 0.002). The gap between last eating occasion and sleep onset was larger in Short (4.2 hr) than Healthy Sleep (2.9 hr; p < 0.001), though the last eating occasion was much earlier than when they fell asleep during either condition. Shortened sleep resulted in adolescents eating later and lengthening the daily feeding window. These findings may help explain the link between shortened sleep and increased obesity risk in adolescents.