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Sleeping Paranoia Away? An Actigraphy and Experience-Sampling Study with Adolescents
Timo Hennig1, Tania M Lincoln2
1Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 5, 20146, Hamburg, Germany. timo.hennig@uni-hamburg.de.
Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|April 29, 2017
Summary
Poor sleep, particularly shorter sleep duration and increased dreaming, may contribute to paranoid symptoms in adolescents. Affective states partially explain this link, suggesting potential avenues for prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Sleep Medicine
- Adolescent Mental Health
Background:
- Paranoid symptoms are linked to distress, functional impairment, and increased risk for psychosis.
- The relationship between poor sleep and paranoia is established, but the directionality and mediating factors require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the predictive relationship between sleep parameters and paranoid symptoms in adolescents.
- To investigate the role of positive and negative affect as potential mediators in this relationship.
Main Methods:
- An experience-sampling study involving 61 adolescents.
- Objective sleep monitoring using actigraphy over eight nights.
- Self-report measures of sleep quality, paranoid symptoms, and affective states.
Main Results:
- Shorter sleep time and increased dreaming significantly predicted paranoid symptoms.
- Paranoid symptoms did not predict sleep parameters.
- Positive and negative affect partially mediated the association between sleep time and paranoid symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Sleep duration and dreaming are potential risk factors for adolescent paranoia.
- Affective states play a partial role in the sleep-paranoia relationship.
- Findings support further research into sleep-based interventions for preventing paranoid symptoms.
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