Sleep and its association with aggression among prisoners: Quantity or quality?

Abstract

Objective: The current paper aims to examine the association between self-reported sleep quality and quantity and how these relate to aggression motivation and hostile cognition in a male prisoner sample. The cognitive component of sleep, namely perception, is consequently a variable of particular interest and one neglected by previous research. Methods:Two independent studies are presented. The first comprised 95 adult male prisoners who completed a sleep quality index along with measures of implicit and explicit aggression. The second study extended this to consider aggression motivation and hostile attribution biases using a sample of 141 young male adult prisoners. Results:In study one, sleep quantity and indicators of sleep quality were found not to associate with aggression whereas the perception of poor sleep did; those perceiving poor sleep quality were more likely than those perceiving good sleep to report they had perpetrated aggression in the previous week and to report higher levels of implicit aggression. Study two found that while increased indicators of poor sleep quality were associated with lower prosocial attribution tendencies and higher levels of reactive and proactive aggression, sleep quantity was not associated. The perception of poor quality sleep was important; those perceiving poor sleep were more likely to report higher levels of reactive and proactive aggression than those reporting good sleep. Conclusions:Collectively the studies highlight the importance of accounting for the perception of sleep quality as an important cognitive component in understanding the association between sleep and aggression.Keywords: sleep; aggression motivation; implicit aggression; prisoners SLEEP AND AGGRESSION AMONG PRISONERS 3 Sleep and its association with aggression among prisoners: Quantity or quality?Sleep quality and quantity can impact on cognition, emotion (e.g. Pilcher, Ginter & Sadowsky, 1997;Hyyppa, Kronholm & Mattlar, 1991;Koffel & Watson, 2009) and psychosocial functioning, including relationships (Tavernier & Willoughby, 2014). Poor sleep is known to adversely affect health related quality of life, a concept capturing physical, emotional, mental, social and behavioural components of well-being (Roeser, Eichholz, Schwerdtle, Schlarb & Kübler, 2012a). In non-clinical populations good sleep quantity and quality is correlated with improved health (e.g. Bellec, 1973;Hyyppa et al, 1991). Good sleep quality has, however, been found to relate better to measures of health and well being than sleep quantity, including both depression and anger (Pilcher et al, 1997). In addition, sleep difficulties, including insomnia, poor sleep quality, hypersomnia, fatigue and sleepiness have all been related to symptoms of anxiety and depression; hypersomnia, fatigue and sleepiness related to depression and anxiety more strongly than the other elements and in particular to depression. This was expected since depression can be characterised by such symptoms (e.g. Koffel & Watson 2009). Indeed, the associati...

Job insecurity and subjective sleep quality: The role of spillover and gender

“…This study focusses on sleep quality because between the two components, sleep quality was found to be a better predictor of individuals' wellbeing and positive attitudes and behaviours. For example, poor sleep quality is more strongly related to physical health complaints, anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue, an increase in cortisol stress responses and aggression, decrease in prosocial attribution tendencies, life satisfaction and positive affect than sleep quantity (Barker, Ireland, Chu, & Ireland, 2016;Bassett et al, 2015;Benham, 2010;Lavidor, Weller, & Babkoff, 2003;Pilcher et al, 1997). Sleep quality encompasses multidimensional aspects reflecting the difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, the frequency of awakening during the night and feeling unrested upon waking (Barnes, 2012;Harvey, Stinson, Whitaker, Moskovitz, & Virk, 2008;Jenkins, Stanton, Niemcryk, & Rose, 1988 (Argyropoulos et al, 2003;Boudebesse et al, 2014;Unruh et al, 2008).…”

Insomnia and its associated factors in incarcerated adults: A cross‐sectional study

“…Furthermore, prisons are part of communities. A correlation between sleep, aggression, and violence was found in the general population (Barker, Ireland, Chu, & Ireland, ) and in a prisoner sample (Kamphuis, Meerlo, Koolhaas, & Lancel, ). Most prisoners will eventually return to society; therefore, promoting prison health would improve the health of communities (WHO, ) and reduce the cost of public health (WHO Regional Office for Europe, ).…”

Exploring the relationship between sleep quality, emotional well-being and aggression levels in a European sample

“…A recent study has tried to examine the role of cognition with sleep quantity and quality, exploring how this associated with aggression motivation (i.e. reactive and proactive) and hostile cognitions in a male prisoner sample (Barker, Ireland, Chu & Ireland, 2016).…”