Haudrich, Elizabeth A.
(2024)
Nightly sleep duration, momentary perceived stress, and experiences of attenuated positive symptoms in daily life in adolescents at clinical high-risk for psychosis.
Undergraduate Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
This is the latest version of this item.
Abstract
Background: Sleep dysfunction and stress abnormalities are prevalent in psychotic disorders (i.e., schizophrenia), therefore it may be valuable to examine these risk markers earlier on in the disease progression to minimize poor health outcomes and the risk of developing psychosis later in life. A nuanced diathesis-stress conceptualization asserts that sleep and stress dysfunction in adolescents at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis – individuals experiencing attenuated positive symptoms (e.g., perceptual abnormalities, unusual thoughts) – may contribute to symptom progression and perhaps, increase the likelihood of transitioning to a psychotic disorder in a shorter window of time. However, our understanding of how sleep and stress abnormalities influence day-to-day experiences of attenuated positive symptoms in CHR adolescents remains limited. Thus, the current study aims to examine the day-to-day interrelationships between sleep habits, psychological stress, and psychosis-risk symptoms in CHR and non-CHR youth, with an eye toward identifying and targeting combinations of risk markers possibly contributing to the emergence of psychotic disorders later in life.
Methods: Twelve CHR and 15 non-CHR adolescents (ages 13-20) were recruited to the University of Pittsburgh. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) was used to collect self-reported nightly sleep duration (i.e., total time asleep), momentary perceived stress (i.e., rating of anxiousness, nervousness, or pressure), and momentary psychosis-risk symptoms (i.e., number of perceptual disturbances and/or unusual thoughts) across two-week observation periods.
Results: There were no group differences in sleep duration or momentary stress. Group status moderated the association between within-person sleep duration and momentary stress in the whole sample, such that the noted association trended toward negative in the non-CHR group but was insignificant in the CHR group. Higher momentary stress, but not shorter sleep duration, was related to increased momentary psychosis-risk symptoms in the CHR group.
Conclusion: The current study provides a novel account of the presence of sleep and stress dysfunction in general adolescents and their influence on daily experiences of attenuated positive symptoms in CHR adolescents. Findings can inform how preventative programs possibly target dysfunctional sleep and stress processes in adolescence in order to minimize experiences of psychosis-risk symptoms in daily life and the risk of developing psychosis later in life.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
18 April 2024 |
| Defense Date: |
5 April 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
24 April 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
18 April 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
90 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
David C. Frederick Honors College
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology |
| Degree: |
BPhil - Bachelor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Undergraduate Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
sleep; stress; psychosis-risk symptoms; psychosis; clinical high-risk; ecological momentary assessment |
| Date Deposited: |
24 Apr 2024 16:09 |
| Last Modified: |
24 Apr 2024 16:09 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46224 |
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