Publications by authors named "Jennifer C Cousins"
Sleep-related problems (SRPs) are a common precursor to anxiety disorders, especially during peri-adolescence, and may be a predictor of treatment response. However, evidence-based anxiety treatments do not alleviate SRPs to a clinically significant degree. The current study examines whether improving sleep in a sample of young adolescents previously treated for anxiety disorders can further reduce anxiety severity.
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- Study 1 found that anxiety treatment slightly reduces sleep problems in anxious youth, but most still experience significant sleep disturbances after treatment.
- Study 2 evaluated the Sleeping TIGERS intervention, which showed significant improvements in sleep for youth who continued to struggle with sleep issues post-anxiety treatment.
- Overall, while anxiety treatment helps with sleep disturbances, it doesn't fully resolve them, indicating a need for additional support like Sleeping TIGERS for better emotional and mental health outcomes.
Article Synopsis
- Sleep restriction in adolescents leads to increased negative emotions and affects how they behave around peers, especially in conflict situations.
- Two studies tested this by either limiting sleep to 4 hours or extending it to 10 hours, noticing consistent trends in emotional responses across both experimental setups.
- Results showed that sleep deprivation worsened negative feelings and behaviors in social contexts, while the effects on positive emotions were less clear, indicating that lack of sleep primarily influences negative affect.
Objective: This study examines relationships between affect and sleep in youth with affective disorders using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).
Methods: Participants included 94 youth, ages 8-16 (M = 11.73, 53% female) years with an anxiety disorder only (n = 23), primary major depressive disorder (with and without a secondary anxiety diagnoses; n = 42), and healthy controls (n = 29).
Substance abuse is linked to numerous mental and physical health problems, including disturbed sleep. The association between substance use and sleep appears to be bidirectional, in that substance use may directly cause sleep disturbances, and difficulty sleeping may be a risk factor for relapse to substance use. Growing evidence similarly links substance use to disturbances in circadian rhythms, although many gaps in knowledge persist, particularly regarding whether circadian disturbance leads to substance abuse or dependence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep items in the child behavior checklist: a comparison with sleep diaries, actigraphy, and polysomnography.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
May 2011
Article Synopsis
- The study investigated the effectiveness of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in assessing sleep disturbances, which it hasn't been specifically validated for.
- Researchers analyzed data from 122 youth with various mental health disorders, looking at correlations between CBCL sleep items and other sleep assessments such as sleep diaries and actigraphy.
- Findings revealed that while some CBCL sleep items correlated with sleep measures (like "trouble sleeping" related to sleep latency), it is not recommended to rely solely on the CBCL for sleep assessments; further studies with more precise sleep measures are necessary.
Article Synopsis
- Poor sleep is a common issue for adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs) and can increase the risk of relapse.
- A study involving 55 adolescents assessed how mindfulness meditation (MM) impacted sleep quality and self-efficacy in recovery, with 18 participants completing a 6-session intervention.
- Results showed that participation in the program led to better sleep and reduced substance use, with more frequent MM practice linked to longer sleep duration and improved coping with substance use issues.
The relationship between actigraphy- or diary-based sleep parameters and salivary melatonin-based dim light melatonin onsets (DLMOs) was examined in 21 adolescents with a history of substance abuse and current complaints of sleep difficulties. The adolescents displayed relationships between diary-based sleep times and DLMO that were of comparable strength with those reported for adult insomniacs and healthy adolescents during the school year, but weaker than those observed in healthy adults and healthy adolescents on summer vacation. When the sample was divided into adolescents with late and early DLMOs, the 2 groups had significantly different phase angles between DLMO and sleep variables but no other significant differences in sleep parameters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe relationships between family environment and psychological distress and between psychological distress and sleep disturbance in adolescents are well established. However, less is known about the influence of family environment on sleep disturbance. The authors' goal is to examine the effects of parental involvement on psychological distress and sleep disturbance in 34 adolescents with a history of substance abuse.
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