Background: Prior studies among women with impaired fecundity have consistently demonstrated a positive association between daily perceived stress and the ability to conceive. However, the effects of daily stress on time to pregnancy (TTP) among women with proven fertility is not known.
Materials and Methods:One hundred and forty-three women ages 18-35, in a relationship of proven fertility, who desired to conceive were included in the analysis. Daily diaries recording perceived stress (scale 0-10) were completed for up to 7 menstrual cycles or until pregnancy. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association between timevarying perceived stress tertiles (high [ > 4.1-7.2], moderate [ > 2.7-4.1], and low [0.1-2.7]) and adjusted fecundability odds ratio (aFOR), 95% confidence intervals (CI), after taking into account age, parity, education, time-varying caffeine and alcohol intake, fertility awareness tracking, and cycle intent to conceive.Results: Among the 111 participants who completed daily diaries, 90 (81.1%) conceived. Women reporting high or moderate stress, versus low stress, had no difference in probability of achieving pregnancy (aFOR: 1.11 [95% CI: 0.58, 2.14]; and aFOR: 1.37 [0.71, 2.67]), respectively. Additional adjustment for intercourse frequency during narrow fertile window, or narrowing exposure focus to pre-ovulatory or pre-implantation stress did not appreciably alter the estimates.
Conclusion:Daily perceived stress was not adversely associated with TTP among women with proven fertility. While a growing body of evidence supports adverse effects of more severe stressful life events on female reproductive function, moderate psychological stress, commonly referred to as eustress, among relatively healthy women with proven fertility does not appear to adversely impact TTP.
College student athletes are under a lot of pressure to accomplish all that is expected of them which may lead to other areas of their lives being neglected, including sleep. The amount of sleep a student athlete gets is crucial in their accomplishments both off and on the field. The researchers chose to investigate how the amount of sleep an athlete gets affects their day to day life. Specifically, the researchers explored the correlation between the amount of sleep an athlete got and how positively they rated their day through an online daily survey throughout a two week span of 10 days. Participants of the study hailed from a Lutheran, faith-based institution of higher education in an urban area of the Midwestern United States. The research showed that it did not matter the amount of sleep the athlete got the night prior that determined their performance the following day. The study thoroughly addressed the relationship between stresses on athletes that impaired their sleep schedules and the aftereffects in both their academic and athletic performances in school and on the field.
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