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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (3 results)

  • Thesis
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2020)

Sufficient sleep is essential for maintaining physical and emotional well-being, and both quantity and quality of sleep are related to numerous well-being and functional outcomes. Among college students, poor sleep has been related to poorer mental health and academic performance. Collegiate athletes are a subgroup of college students that may face additional challenges in maintaining ample and good quality sleep due to the time demands, psychological pressures, and rigid schedules associated with participation in college sports. Sleeping well may be even more critical for college athletes relative to the general undergraduate population, as the success of college athletes on the field may greatly rely on the restorative benefits of sleep to both their physical and psychological functioning. However, no known studies have examined sleep or well-being outcomes in college club athletes, who compete at a lower level than NCAA-level athletes but may still experience many of the same stressors and sleep problems.

In two studies, the present dissertation examined both objective (i.e., wrist actigraphy) and subjective sleep parameters and their correlates in college club athletes (Study 1) and compared subjective sleep variables and academic performance between college club athletes and college non-athletes (Study 2). Club athletes and non-athletes did not differ in their sleep profiles or academic performance, but club athletes reported feeling less stressed than non-athletes. For club athletes, important relationships were found between both objective and subjective sleep measures and next day affect. Notably, athletes reported lower negative affect on days after which they had above average sleep efficiency and self-reported sleep quality the previous night, as well as higher positive affect after nights of better self-reported sleep. Additionally, for club athletes, better sleep hygiene was related to both higher daily and global subjective sleep quality and to lower reported insomnia severity. Sleep profiles of college club athletes are discussed in comparison to previous findings for college students, college athletes, and elite athletes. Implications for the affective and functional consequences of poor sleep in club athletes are also discussed.

    Cover page: Sleep in College Club Athletes: Patterns, Correlates, and Comparisons with College Non-Athletes
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2020)
    RATIONALE: Work is a common source of stress for many adults, arising from situations that occur at work (e.g., job demands) as well as the worries and responsibilities that people take home with them (negative work-family spillover). Over time, work-related stress may impact physical health. OBJECTIVE: The current study prospectively examined the effects of job demands and negative work-family spillover (NWFS) on three self-reported physical health measures. METHOD: Participants in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) survey (N = 4200) reported their job demands and negative work-family spillover at wave 1. They also reported on their health across three waves of data collection. RESULTS: Higher levels of NWFS at baseline were related to a higher number of self-reported chronic illnesses, greater functional limitation, and poorer self-rated health approximately 10 and 20 years later. In contrast, job demands were unrelated to any health indices at baseline or at the approximately 10- and 20-year follow-ups. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that NWFS is a unique form of stress with long-lasting and detrimental effects on physical health.
      Cover page: Work-family spillover stress predicts health outcomes across two decades.
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2022)
      Before the COVID-19 pandemic, undergraduate students experienced sleep problems and mental health issues that were negatively associated with academic achievement. Studies comparing undergraduate sleep and health pre- to mid-pandemic have yielded mixed results, necessitating additional research on other cohorts and examination of potential moderators. The present study was conducted to examine whether American undergraduate students tested mid-pandemic experienced poorer sleep, health, and academic achievement relative to students tested pre-pandemic, as well as to examine whether poor sleep during the pandemic was preferentially associated with poorer health in women. The current cross-sectional study included 217 participants tested pre-pandemic (February-December 2019) and a separate sample of 313 participants tested mid-pandemic (November-December 2020). Participants in both samples provided demographic information and completed questionnaires inquiring about participant sleep quality, insomnia, and cumulative grade point average (GPA); participants in the mid-pandemic sample also reported on measures of general, physical, and mental health. Participants tested mid-pandemic reported poorer global sleep quality, greater insomnia severity, greater stress, and higher cumulative GPAs relative to participants tested pre-pandemic. For the mid-pandemic sample only, poorer sleep quality was associated with reduced physical health; interactions indicated that women with poor sleep quality reported poorer mental health relative to both women with good sleep quality and men with poor quality sleep. Perceived stress mediated the association between sleep problems and GPA. These findings indicate that the pandemic negatively impacted the functioning of undergraduate students and highlights the need for future studies examining additional moderators of the reported effects.
        Cover page: Undergraduate Student Stress, Sleep, and Health Before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Creative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
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