Presenter Information

Anthony Celori

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC Room 202

Start Date

15-5-2014

End Date

15-5-2014

Keywords

Sleep, Depression, Anxiety

Abstract

Poor sleep quality has been found to be a common concern for individuals with depression and anxiety; however, the directional aspect of this relationship is unclear. While depression and anxiety may contribute to poor sleep quality, poor sleep quality may also exacerbate symptoms of psychological disorders. Importantly, both sleep quality and stress levels can negatively impact college students, and poor sleep quality may be further influenced by high levels of caffeine and alcohol consumption in students. The current study examined possible correlations between sleep quality, depression and anxiety symptoms, and caffeine and alcohol use in university students. A counterbalanced series of self-administered surveys were administered online. Those surveys included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale, the Personal History Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and a caffeine survey adapted by the investigators. While data collection is ongoing, it is anticipated that worsening sleep quality will correlate with increasing severity of symptoms related to both anxiety and depression after accounting for alcohol and caffeine use. We also expect that increased use of alcohol and caffeine will modulate the effects of poor sleep quality, leading to increasingly severe symptoms. These results would be important in a clinical setting as both a tool for diagnosis and therapy efficacy, as the extent of poor sleep quality could help identify the severity of a patient’s depression or anxiety while tracking symptomology during therapy.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Gabriel, Kara

Additional Mentoring Department

Psychology

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May 15th, 11:40 AM May 15th, 12:00 PM

Effects of Sleep Quality on Depression and Anxiety Symptomology

SURC Room 202

Poor sleep quality has been found to be a common concern for individuals with depression and anxiety; however, the directional aspect of this relationship is unclear. While depression and anxiety may contribute to poor sleep quality, poor sleep quality may also exacerbate symptoms of psychological disorders. Importantly, both sleep quality and stress levels can negatively impact college students, and poor sleep quality may be further influenced by high levels of caffeine and alcohol consumption in students. The current study examined possible correlations between sleep quality, depression and anxiety symptoms, and caffeine and alcohol use in university students. A counterbalanced series of self-administered surveys were administered online. Those surveys included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale, the Personal History Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and a caffeine survey adapted by the investigators. While data collection is ongoing, it is anticipated that worsening sleep quality will correlate with increasing severity of symptoms related to both anxiety and depression after accounting for alcohol and caffeine use. We also expect that increased use of alcohol and caffeine will modulate the effects of poor sleep quality, leading to increasingly severe symptoms. These results would be important in a clinical setting as both a tool for diagnosis and therapy efficacy, as the extent of poor sleep quality could help identify the severity of a patient’s depression or anxiety while tracking symptomology during therapy.