Summary Sleep and sleep disturbances are increasingly recognized as determinants of women’s health and well-being, particularly in the context of the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause. At present, however, little is known about whether fertility is affected by sleep quantity and quality. That is, to what degree, and by what mechanisms, do sleep and/or its disturbances affect fertility? The purpose of this review is to synthesize what is known about sleep disturbances in relation to reproductive capacity. A model is provided, whereby stress, sleep dysregulation, and circadian misalignment are delineated for their potential relevance to infertility. Ultimately, if it is the case that sleep disturbance is associated with infertility, new avenues for clinical intervention may be possible.

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OBJECTIVES: We undertook this study to clarify the operative mechanisms that account for the relationship between emotional disclosure and health. We hypothesized that emotional disclosure via writing was a form of exposure-based therapy and that exposure was the active therapeutic component. Design and method. A group of 129 male and female undergraduates were randomly assigned to three writing groups: (1) a trauma disclosure writing group; (2) a positive emotion writing group to control for affect arousal; and (3) a neutral writing group to control for any affect arousal - either positive or negative. Process measures were taken before and after each 3-day, 20-minute writing session. All participants completed questionnaires that assessed psychological and physical functioning at both the baseline and the end of the semester (approximately 9 weeks later). RESULTS: Groups reported differential affective arousal as well as disclosure themes in accord with our predictions. We did not replicate the findings of Pennebaker and his colleagues (e.g. Pennebaker & Beall, 1986). In our study, physical health outcome measures did not differ between groups by the end of the semester, nor did psychological measures change from baseline to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: We found only limited support for the hypothesis that exposure best explains the effects of written self-disclosure. Implications for future research in this area are discussed.

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Background Indoor tanning has been found to be addictive. However, the most commonly-used tanning dependence measures have not been well-validated. Objective The study’s purpose was to explore the psychometric characteristics of and compare the mCAGE (modified Cut-down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener Scale), mDSM-IV-TR (modified Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition - Text Revised), and TAPS (Tanning Pathology Scale) measures of tanning dependence and provide recommendations for research and practice. Methods This study was a cross-sectional online survey with 18–25 year old female university students. The main outcome variable was tanning dependence measured by the mCAGE, mDSM-IV-TR, and TAPS. Results Internal consistency of the TAPS subscales was good but was poor for the mCAGE and mDSM-IV-TR, except when their items were combined. Agreement between the mCAGE and mDSM-IV-TR was fair. Factor analysis of the TAPS confirmed the current four-factor structure. All of the tanning dependence scales were significantly correlated with one another. Likewise, most of the tanning dependence scales were significantly correlated with other measures of tanning attitudes and behaviors. However, the tolerance to tanning TAPS subscale was not significantly correlated with any measure of tanning attitudes or behaviors and had the lowest subscale internal reliability and eigenvalues. Conclusion Based on the data and existing literature, we make recommendations for the continued use of tanning dependence measures. Intervention may be needed for the approximately 5% of college women who tend to be classified as tanning dependent across measures. Monitoring of individuals reporting tanning dependence symptoms is warranted.