Daily relationships between sleep, mood and suicidality
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An Experience Sampling Method study investigating temporal relationships between sleep and suicidal thoughts
IRAS ID
195361
Contact name
Donna Littlewood
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Suicide is a current public health concern, which accounted for 10.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the UK in 2014 (Office for National Statistics, 2016). It is important to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying suicidal thoughts and feelings in order to develop cost-effective psychological interventions which target suicidal thoughts and feelings.
Recent research indicates that perceptions of poor sleep quality and disturbed sleep patterns are associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours. However, research in this area is still in its infancy, and has drawn criticism regarding the inconsistent measurement of sleep problems via validated measures and overreliance on cross-sectional study designs. Hence, the over-arching goal of this PhD study is to expand on research which attempts to delineate the psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between sleep disturbances and suicidal thoughts and behaviours.
This is the second study within this programme of PhD research, which is informed by findings from the first qualitative study (Littlewood et al., in submission). The qualitative study identified three interrelated pathways which illustrated how beliefs about sleep were linked to increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours. These pathways, together with psychological theories of suicide, inform the specific hypotheses tested by this proposed study.
The current study will utilise ESM to examine these relationships. ESM is a diary method in which participants are asked a set of questions, repeatedly each day, in order to gain insight into temporal changes across a day. Within this study we will use a PRO-Diary watch which will beep six times each day at random points. Questions will then appear on the watch display and the participant will use the slider control on the watch to answer the questions (see image in supporting protocol). The watch also simultaneously collects actigraph movement data which can be used to indicate when the participant was asleep.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0226
Date of REC Opinion
7 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion