The why, when and where of selective attention to sleep in psychophysiological insomnia

Psychophysiological Insomnia (PI) is characterized by morbid fear of insomnia, mental arousal and heightened somatic tension in bed (ICSD- 2). The most widely reported epidemiological study reports a prevalence of insomnia as between 9% and 15% (Ohayon 2002) and most studies conducted to date looking at prevalence report similar numbers. Espie and colleagues (2006) in their review paper outlined a pathway into PI with three main components; selective attention to sleep, explicit intention to sleep and sleep effort. This model moves forward from Espie’s (2002) Psychobiological Inhibition Model of insomnia which considered both the psychological and physiological states of normal sleep and how these are affected in insomnia. The Attention-Intention-Effort (A-I-E) Model further addresses the loss of automaticity and flexibility in insomnia but moves towards specifically outlining the processes which are present in PI as compared to the good sleeper (GS). The first step in the A-I-E is selective attention to sleep, more commonly reported as attention bias to sleep. The University of Glasgow have pioneered the work establishing this attention bias towards sleep as an indicator in insomnia by using several cognitive probe paradigms presenting neutral and sleep related words and images to PI and GS (Jones et al 2005, Marchetti et al 2006, MacMahon et al 2006, Woods et al 2009). The various paradigms applied to understanding attention bias in PI have confirmed that PI will selectively attend to sleep related stimuli compared to neutral and to GS. We now find ourselves at the juncture of wanting to further understand the underlying mechanism to this attention bias as the previous research has mainly attributed it to an anxiety provoked response. This has its basis in Harvey’s (2002) cognitive model of insomnia which makes comparisons with insomnia and anxiety disorder as well as the absence of de-arousal, both physiological and cognitive, in insomnia as outlined in Espie’s (2002) Psychobiological Inhibition Model. This thesis aims to further our understanding and answer our questions regarding the underlying mechanisms of attention bias in insomnia by addressing the time course, specificity and valence of attention bias in insomnia. Four experiments are used to address these three factors. Firstly, the specificity of AB is examined and compares the performance of GS and those going through a period of acute insomnia on a modified pictorial Posner paradigm in Experiment 1. Experiments 2 and 3 move on from Woods et al (2009) looking at AB to sleep and day times presented on an alarm clock using another modified Posner paradigm. By adding day times into the experiment and adjusting the presentation time of the salient stimuli we address the time course and valence questions. Finally, in experiment 4, an eye tracking experiment, which is new to insomnia research, has been developed where positive sleep, negative sleep and neutral words are presented to PI and GS. . This definitive experiment addresses factors of time course and valence by experimentally manipulating the saliency of the stimuli presented as well as monitoring over a continuous period of presentation. Overall, the findings of this thesis confirm that PI will selectively attend to salient stimuli at shorter presentation times but this attention bias changes into a performance deficit as presentation time increases. This prompts consideration on how the nature of the tasks are exposing elusive performance impairments in insomnia. Also, the saliency of stimuli representing the day presented to PI opens discussion into the 24 hour nature of PI

Fear of missing out and sleep: cognitive behavioural factors in adolescents' nighttime social media use

Introduction: Social media use has been linked to poor adolescent sleep outcomes, but the mechanisms behind this association are not yet well understood. This study examines links between adolescents' social media habits, fear of missing out and sleep outcomes, using path analysis to evaluate a model of proposed underlying mechanisms. Methods: Adolescents aged 12–18 years (N = 101) completed questionnaire measures. Results: Nighttime social media use was associated with later bedtimes, increased pre-sleep cognitive arousal, longer sleep onset latency and shorter sleep duration. Path analysis supported a model whereby fear of missing out predicted shorter sleep duration via two distinct mechanisms: (1) at a behavioural level, by driving late night social media use, which delays bedtimes; (2) at a cognitive level, by increasing pre-sleep cognitive arousal, thus further delaying sleep onset. Conclusions: Efforts to develop and evaluate intervention strategies should therefore consider not only social media behaviours but also underlying cognitive factors, such as fear of missing out

Merging the biological and cognitive processes of sleep and screens

Purpose of Review: Screens are a permanent feature of life today and we have reached an interesting juncture with different research agendas investigating the biological and cognitive aspects of screen use separately. This review argues that it is timely and indeed essential that we bring together these research areas to fully understand both positive and negative aspects of screen use. Recent Findings: More recent work is starting to take a more cohesive approach to understanding how device use pre-bedtime can impact our sleep by including both light and content in their experimental protocols which is a welcome development leading to a more nuanced understanding of both biological and cognitive processes. Summary: We call for an open and collaborative approach to gain momentum in this direction of acknowledging both biological and cognitive factors enabling us to understand the relative impacts of both whilst using screens with regard to both light and content

Understanding links between social media use, sleep and mental health: recent progress and current challenges

Purpose of Review: Sleep and mental health researchers are increasingly recognising the need to update our approaches to understanding the unique social, emotional and cognitive aspects of social media use, rather than simply considering it as just another hour of total daily “screen time”. In this review, we highlight some recent developments in this area, discuss ongoing challenges facing this field and offer recommendations for future steps. Recent Findings: The sleep and mental health research literatures have made recent advances towards a more nuanced understanding of social media use: moving beyond a focus on simply duration of use, towards new insights into the role of content, context and experience of these online interactions. Summary: As this research area moves forward, a focus on high-quality measurement—combined with collaborative multidisciplinary approaches that triangulate insight from different methodologies and perspectives—can inform a more holistic understanding of sleep and mental health in today’s connected world

Using Open Access Peer-Reviews and Pre-Printed Submissions to Improve Students’ Comprehension of Academic Writing

One of the most difficult challenges that novice learners face is to read and assess verbose, complex journal articles, filled with a mix of subject-specific jargon and intricate analyses, challenged with understanding the terminology as well as the general concepts of the work. A recent blog captures this frustration, stating, “Nothing makes you feel stupid quite like reading scientific journal article” (Ruben, 2016); whilst a follow on looks to alleviate this issue by offering insights from experienced professionals on how best to approach articles (Pain, 2016). Yet while numerous rubrics exist for improving general structuring and writing (Derntl, 2014; Hillier et al., 2016; Kording and Mensh, 2016), few if any exist on how to improve conceptual understanding; a key skill required for students to support their own academic writing with evidence-based literature. We looked to address this issue by creating a mock ‘peer-review’ assessment as part of a portfolio of skills in our Masters-level conversion course; a cohort faced with the stern challenge of having to rapidly, and independently, learn to read and comprehend academic writing from a novel discipline over a relatively short time-span. Our approach involved three stages. First a brief explanation of the peer-review process using freely available online materials from publishers (e.g. Wiley, PLOS). Next an analytical discussion of open access peer-reviews of published articles (via PeerJ, Royal Society Open Science); i.e. a learn-by-example approach. Finally, the student’s own mock peer-review of one of three open access pre-printed journal articles (via PeerJ, PsyArXiv, etc) with specific guidelines to focus on the key aspects of theory, methodology and readability. Here we present qualitative and quantitative feedback from the students as regards to how this task improved their ability to understand complex academic writing, and how it has altered their approach to reading such articles in future

Identifying drivers for bedtime social media use despite sleep costs: the adolescent perspective

Objectives: Bedtime social media use is associated with poor sleep during adolescence, which in turn contributes to poor mental health, impaired daytime functioning and lower academic achievement. However, the underlying drivers for these bedtime social media habits remain understudied. This study adds an adolescent perspective on motivations for bedtime social media use and perceived impact on sleep. Methods: Adolescents aged 11–17 years (n = 24) participated in focus group discussions exploring their experiences of using social media, particularly at night. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis produced themes that captured underlying drivers for social media use and associated impact on sleep. Results: Our analyses produced two overarching themes: Missing Out and Norms & Expectations. Adolescents' nighttime social media use was driven by concerns over negative consequences for real-world relationships if they disconnected (often reporting delayed bedtimes, insufficient sleep and daytime tiredness). These concerns included the risk of offline peer exclusion from missing out on online interactions, and the fear of social disapproval from violating norms around online availability and prompt responses. Conclusions: These findings offer novel insight into why adolescents may choose to prioritize social media over sleep. Researchers and practitioners can respond to the evolving needs of today's adolescents by approaching social media use not as a technology-based activity, but as an embedded social experience underpinned by the same concerns as offline interactions

Social media use and adolescent sleep patterns: cross-sectional findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Objectives: This study examines associations between social media use and multiple sleep parameters in a large representative adolescent sample, controlling for a wide range of covariates. Design: The authors used cross-sectional data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a large nationally representative UK birth cohort study. Participants: Data from 11 872 adolescents (aged 13–15 years) were used in analyses. Methods: Six self-reported sleep parameters captured sleep timing and quality: sleep onset and wake times (on school days and free days), sleep onset latency (time taken to fall asleep) and trouble falling back asleep after nighttime awakening. Binomial logistic regressions investigated associations between daily social media use and each sleep parameter, controlling for a range of relevant covariates. Results: Average social media use was 1 to <3 hours per day (31.6%, n=3720). 33.7% were classed as low users (<1 hour; n=3986); 13.9% were high users (3 to <5 hours; n=1602) and 20.8% were very high users (5+ hours; n=2203). Girls reported spending more time on social media than boys. Overall, heavier social media use was associated with poorer sleep patterns, controlling for covariates. For example, very high social media users were more likely than comparable average users to report late sleep onset (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.83 to 2.50) and wake times (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.93) on school days and trouble falling back asleep after nighttime awakening (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.66). Conclusions: This study provides a normative profile of UK adolescent social media use and sleep. Results indicate statistically and practically significant associations between social media use and sleep patterns, particularly late sleep onset. Sleep education and interventions can focus on supporting young people to balance online interactions with an appropriate sleep schedule that allows sufficient sleep on school nights

Cookie Cutting or Gaining a Broader Perspective? Embedding Graduate Attributes in the Curriculum

Objectives: The aim of this project was to increase student awareness of graduate attributes (GAs) at an early stage in their undergraduate career by embedding graduate attribute reflection activities within Level 2 Psychology. Design: Students reflected on how skills gained from their curricular and extra-curricular activities were linked to graduate attributes. Study 1 evaluated the impact of the reflection task by measuring selfefficacy in specific GAs. Study 2 used a mixed-methods design to explore student perspectives on the activities and their views on GAs. Methods: Study 1: Participants were second year psychology undergraduates at the University of Glasgow (N=107). Self-efficacy in each of the dimensions of the University of Glasgow GAs Framework was measured before and after the reflection task, along with measures of self-efficacy in higher education and self-esteem. Study 2: Participants (N= 178) from the same cohort completed the Employability Experience Questionnaire followed by questions about the GAs reflection exercise and their intentions. These questions were discussed in detail in student led focus groups (N= 9). Results: Study 1: Non Parametric analyses indicated that self-efficacy in specific GAs increased after the reflection exercises, and were positively correlated to H.E self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Study 2: Qualitative analysis elicited themes on the “Value of GAs”, “Practicalities”, and “Looking to the Future”. Conclusions: Embedding a GAs reflection task within the psychology curriculum improved students’ self-efficacy, and motivated them to seek further opportunities. Limitations of the design, and implications for skills development in the psychology degree will be discussed

Cookie Cutting or Gaining a Broader Perspective? Embedding Graduate Attributes in the Curriculum

Objectives: The aim of this project was to increase student awareness of graduate attributes (GAs) at an early stage in their undergraduate career by embedding graduate attribute reflection activities within Level 2 Psychology. Design: Students reflected on how skills gained from their curricular and extra-curricular activities were linked to graduate attributes. Study 1 evaluated the impact of the reflection task by measuring selfefficacy in specific GAs. Study 2 used a mixed-methods design to explore student perspectives on the activities and their views on GAs. Methods: Study 1: Participants were second year psychology undergraduates at the University of Glasgow (N=107). Self-efficacy in each of the dimensions of the University of Glasgow GAs Framework was measured before and after the reflection task, along with measures of self-efficacy in higher education and self-esteem. Study 2: Participants (N= 178) from the same cohort completed the Employability Experience Questionnaire followed by questions about the GAs reflection exercise and their intentions. These questions were discussed in detail in student led focus groups (N= 9). Results: Study 1: Non Parametric analyses indicated that self-efficacy in specific GAs increased after the reflection exercises, and were positively correlated to H.E self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Study 2: Qualitative analysis elicited themes on the “Value of GAs”, “Practicalities”, and “Looking to the Future”. Conclusions: Embedding a GAs reflection task within the psychology curriculum improved students’ self-efficacy, and motivated them to seek further opportunities. Limitations of the design, and implications for skills development in the psychology degree will be discussed

Where am I now and where do I want to be? Developing awareness of graduate attributes in pre-honours students.

There is increasing emphasis on the importance of making Graduate Attributes (GAs) explicit to students as part of their degree programme and the role of students themselves in proactively developing GAs. The aim of the present project was to encourage students to actively develop and reflect upon curricular and extra-curricular attributes at an earlier stage in their degree programme. To this end we developed and evaluated short-self-reflection exercises in second year (pre-honours) psychology practical classes which asked students to reflect on their curricular and extra-curricular activities and on how the practical skills gained from these activities are linked to graduate attributes.  Activities were followed by careers workshops focused on gaining confidence in communicating graduate attributes in an interview context, and the benefits of engaging with professional networking sites. We evaluated the impact of these activities on: 1) students’ levels of self-efficacy in specific GAs before and after the in-class exercises; 2) students' confidence in presenting their GAs in an interview situation; 3) student awareness of professional networking sites.  The activities resulted in increased self- efficacy ratings after the GAS reflection, increased confidence in presenting their GAs after the careers workshops, and an increased awareness of professional networking sites. The effectiveness of these activities as a method to increase student engagement in developing their GAs will be discussed in the wider context of embedding GAs and employability in pre-honours programmes across STEM disciplines. Keywords: Graduate attributes, employability, self-efficacy, pre-honours, professional networkin