Sleep consistency and sufficiency: are both necessary for less psychological strain?

Abstract

Using the integrated self‐regulatory strength approach to the benefits of sleep over time, we proposed that early‐week sleep sufficiency (average sleep duration) and early‐week sleep consistency (variation in sleep duration) interact to predict the greatest buffer against late‐week psychological strain. Results supported the hypothesized interaction, even when controlling for factors relating to circadian rhythm disruptions and sleep quality. Specifically, the benefits of sufficient sleep are best obtained through consistent sleep resource replenishment, and consistent sleep practices require a sufficient amount of sleep to mitigate the experience of strain. This study provided preliminary evidence that sleep as a technique for resource replenishment alone may not be enough to reduce psychological strain. Continued exploration of the potential resource‐enhancement aspect of consistent sleep may be a fruitful avenue of stress management research. Much like other routine activities that have shown to increase self‐regulatory strength, consistent sleep may serve as an effective strain intervention, thereby preventing negative acute and chronic health effects. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sleep deprivation affects reactivity to positive but not negative stimuli

“…It is possible; however, that sleep deprivation makes it less likely that people will choose to regulate their emotions. Previous research suggests that sleep is necessary to replenish the internal resources necessary for self-control (Barber, et al, 2010). Together, these results support previous research indicating that sleep-deprived persons may be less capable of monitoring and controlling their attentional states as well as their selfregulatory behavior (Hanif et al, 2012;Pilcher, et al, 2007;Pilcher, et al, 2013).…”

Stress and sleep remain significant predictors of health after controlling for negative affect

“…In addition to sleep duration and quality, there is growing interest in the importance of sleep consistency (Barber & Munz, ; Bei, Wiley, Trinder, & Manber, ). Intraindividual variability in sleep duration and fragmentation has been found to exceed interindividual differences (Mezick et al, ) and has received increased attention in relation to stress and allostatic load (Barber, Munz, Bagsby, & Powell, ; Bei et al, ; Bei, Seeman, Carroll, & Wiley, ). However, as recognized by the scale's developers, the PSQI is a retrospective global estimate of sleep quality that is insensitive to daily variability (Buysse et al, ), and we were therefore unable to examine the influence of sleep consistency.…”

“…Even after accounting for NA in our model, a substantial amount of unexplained variance in health remains. Beyond the obvious maladaptive and adaptive health‐related behaviours such as smoking, exercise, and nutrition, some of this variance may be due to interindividual differences in sleep need and sleep consistency (Barber et al, ) or variability in stress reactivity/recovery (Lovallo, ). Our study would have benefited from controlling for additional potential confounds.…”

Impulsive processes in the self-regulation of health behaviour: theoretical and methodological considerations in response to commentaries

“…We take a more integrative position (Friese, Hofmann, & Wiers, in press;Hofmann, et al, 2008a). We believe that, in general, the most efficient treatment will operate simultaneously on multiple relevant levels of our framework ranging from (1) reflective determinants such as knowledge and motivation to (2) facilitating boundary conditions of impulse control such as improvement of executive functioning (Houben & Jansen, 2011;Houben, Nederkoorn, Wiers, & Jansen, in press;Klingberg, Forssberg, & Westerberg, 2002), how to prevent or remedy resource depletion effects (Barber, Munz, Bagsby, & Powell, 2010;Hagger, Wood, Stiff, & Chatzisarantis, 2010), and the acquisition of mental self-control strategies such as knowing which situations to avoid, how to cognitively deal with temptation (e.g., Achtziger, Gollwitzer, & Sheeran, 2008;Hofmann, Deutsch, Lancaster, & Banaji, 2010a) to (3) the shaping of impulsive precursors via new intervention technologies, thus taking 'the edge' of problematic impulses in a prophylactic manner. Since the publication of our target article, a number of studies have yielded additional evidence that impulsive processes can be influenced for the better in problem populations via attentional retraining (Fadardi & Cox, 2009;, evaluative conditioning (Houben, Havermans, & Wiers, 2010;Houben, Schoenmakers, & Wiers, 2010;Wiers, Rinck, Kordts, Houben, & Strack, 2010b; see also Harm and Veling, 2011), avoidancetraining procedures (Wiers, Eberl, Rinck, Becker, & Lindenmeyer, in press;Wiers, et al, 2010b), and inhibition training (Houben, et al, 2011;Veling, Holland, & van Knippenberg, 2008).…”