Objective-To describe the normative course of maternal sleep during the first four months postpartum.Study Design-Sleep was objectively measured using continuous wrist actigraphy. This was a longitudinal, field-based assessment of nocturnal sleep during postpartum weeks two through 16. Fifty mothers participated during postpartum weeks two through 13; 24 participated during postpartum weeks nine through 16. Conclusion-Though postpartum mothers' total sleep time was higher than expected during the initial postpartum months, this sleep was highly fragmented (similar to fragmenting sleep disorders) and inefficient. This profile of disturbed sleep should be considered in intervention designs and family leave policies.
Results-Maternal
Rates of nonmedical psychostimulant use among emerging adults have been previously examined using self-report, but rates among adolescents have not been well documented. Additionally, few studies have examined the relation of nonmedical psychostimulant use and sleep. One purpose of this study was to examine rates of nonmedical psychostimulant use and sleep among adolescents and emerging adults utilizing the same self-report measures. The second goal was to compare objective measures of sleep among emerging adult nonmedical psychostimulant users and non-users. Using an online survey adolescents (n=62) and emerging adults (n=583) were asked about past and current nonmedical use of psychostimulants and sleep quality, as measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Emerging adults were more likely to use psychostimulants nonmedically than adolescents [χ 2 (1, N = 592) = 13.93; p < .001, odds ratio = 7.5]. Emerging adults (M = 7.73, SD = 3.58) also self-reported worse quality sleep than adolescents (M = 6.36, SD = 3.97)[F(1, 570) = 5.34, p < .05]. Additionally, adolescents reported significantly more average sleep per night in hours (M = 7.77, SD = 1.71) than emerging adults (M = 6.97, SD = 1.51) [t (1, 644) = 3.90; p < .01]. Objective measures of sleep, using actigraphy, and of nonmedical use, using urinalysis, were obtained from a subset of 14 nonmedical using and 14 non-using emerging adults. Among users, total sleep time was significantly lower on nights preceding use (M = 310.71, SD = 116.89) than on nights not preceding use (M = 419.63, SD = 87.69) [F (1, 79) = 15.06; p < 0.001]. No difference was found between nights following use when compared to nights not following use.
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