ORCID Profile
0000-0001-7523-3106
Current Organisation
University of South Australia
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Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Date: 2019
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-2019
DOI: 10.1093/SLEEP/ZSZ021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 26-01-2018
DOI: 10.1080/07420528.2018.1430037
Abstract: Studies suggest that there may be an association between sleep and growth however, the relationship is not well understood. Changes in biology and external factors such as school schedule heavily impact the sleep of adolescents, during a critical phase for growth. This study assessed the changes in sleep across school days, weekends and school holidays, while also measuring height and weight changes, and self-reported alterations in food intake and physical activity. The impact of morningness-eveningness (M-E) on height change and weight gain was also investigated. In a s le of 63 adolescents (mean age = 13.13, SD = 0.33, 31 males) from two independent schools in South Australia, height and weight were measured weekly for 4 weeks prior to the school holidays and 4 weeks after the school holidays. Participants also completed a Morningness/Eveningness Scale and 7-day sleep, diet and physical activity diaries prior to, during and after the school holidays. Participants at one school had earlier wake times during the weekends than participants attending the other school, leading to a significantly shorter sleep duration on weekends for those participants. Regardless of school, sleep was significantly later and longer during the holidays (p < 0.001) and those with a stronger morning preference fell asleep (F
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-03-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JSR.12682
Abstract: This study examined the associations between self-reported sleep timing and quality, and the frequency of breakfast and junk food consumption in 28,010 Australian school students (mean ± SD age = 13.3 ± 1.2 years, 51% male). After controlling for age, sex and socioeconomic status, regression analyses revealed that the odds of missing breakfast were significantly higher in children who reported poor sleep or later bedtimes, while the odds of junk food consumption were significantly higher in children reporting later weeknight bedtimes (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that sleep timing and quality influence the dietary choices of adolescents.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-11-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JSR.12473
Abstract: This laboratory study investigated the impact of restricted sleep during a simulated school week on circadian phase, sleep stages and daytime functioning. Changes were examined across and within days and during a simulated weekend recovery. Participants were 12 healthy secondary school students (six male) aged 15-17 years [mean = 16.1 years, standard deviation (SD) = 0.9]. After 2 nights with 10 h (21:30-07:30 hours), time in bed was restricted to 5 h for 5 nights (02:30-07:30 hours), then returned to 10 h time in bed for 2 nights (21:30-07:30 hours). Saliva was collected in dim light on the first and last sleep restriction nights to measure melatonin onset phase. Sleep was recorded polysomnographically, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale were undertaken 3-hourly while awake. Average phase delay measured by melatonin was 3 h (SD = 50 min). Compared to baseline, sleep during the restriction period contained a smaller percentage of Stages 1 and 2 and rapid eye movement (REM) and a greater percentage of Stage 4. PVT lapses increased significantly during sleep restriction and did not return to baseline levels during recovery. Subjective sleepiness showed a similar pattern during restriction, but returned to baseline levels during recovery. Results suggest that sustained attention in adolescents is affected negatively by sleep restriction, particularly in the early morning, and that a weekend of recovery sleep is insufficient to restore performance. The discrepancy between sleepiness ratings and performance may indicate a lack of perception of this residual impairment.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-03-2022
DOI: 10.1111/AJO.13507
Abstract: There is now robust evidence that when women settle to sleep on their back in late pregnancy ( weeks) they are at increased risk of stillbirth. Therefore, there are several stillbirth prevention programs worldwide that have begun advising pregnant women to adopt a side position when settling to sleep in late pregnancy. However, some hold concerns that giving women information about sleep position and stillbirth risk may make them anxious. This study aimed to determine what influences how ‘safe sleep’ messages are perceived by pregnant women and if there is anxiety associated with receiving this message. An online survey of 537 Australian women ( n = 97 were ‘currently pregnant’). The survey examined participant’s views regarding sleep position messages, type of information source as well as participant characteristics such as general anxiety and their fetal health locus of control (FHLC). Our findings suggest that the FHLC may influence how health messaging regarding sleep in pregnancy is perceived and acted upon. We have also shown a subset of pregnant women may feel anxiety associated with the sleep position in pregnancy message. This may not be related to history of anxiety, but rather to their higher ‘internal’ FHLC, ie those who reflect a greater sense of personal agency over fetal health. Our findings suggest most women will perceive information about settling into sleep position as informative rather than anxiety provoking. Therefore, maternity care providers should not be overly concerned about provoking anxiety when providing this information.
Publisher: National Institute of Industrial Health
Date: 16-11-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Date: 04-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-12-2023
DOI: 10.1111/CAMH.12616
Abstract: In adolescents, technology use at bedtime is linked to disrupted sleep and psychological distress. Adolescents are known to sleep later on weekends compared to weekdays but whether this leads to greater technology use, and, hence, additional psychological distress is not known. At greater risk maybe adolescents with a late compared to early chronotype, that is a preference for late versus early sleep onset and offset times. Self‐reported measures of sleep timing, chronotype (early, neither early nor late, late), technology medium (social media/texting, TV/streaming, and gaming), and psychological distress (DASS‐21) were collected from 462 students attending one Australian high school. Technology use at bedtime was greater on weekends and especially in adolescents with a late chronotype. Social media/texting on weekends was predictive of delayed sleep onset times (β = .120), and shorter sleep (β = −.172). Shorter sleep on weekdays but not on weekends was associated with greater psychological distress. Technology medium and chronotype were not predictive of psychological distress. This study confirmed that technology use and its impact on sleep differed on weekdays compared to weekends and that a late chronotype was associated with greater technology use. However, neither technology medium nor chronotype was found to affect psychological distress. While greater autonomy may be granted to adolescents over the weekend regarding sleep behaviour, young people, parents, and clinicians should be mindful of the link between technology use and sleep.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-07-2023
DOI: 10.1111/BJEP.12624
Abstract: Boarding students face unique challenges when entering school, including: adapting to a novel environment, where they are separated from family, friends and culture, for up to 40 weeks per year. A particular challenge is sleep. A further challenge is coping with the demands of boarding with its potential impact on psychological well‐being. To explore how boarders' sleep differs from that of their day‐student peers, and how this relates to psychological well‐being. 309 students (59 boarding students and 250 day‐students, at one Adelaide school) completed the School Sleep Habits Survey, Depression‐Anxiety‐Stress‐Scale‐21 (DASS‐21), and Flourishing Scale. Boarding students additionally completed the Utrecht Homesickness Scale. Thirteen boarding students described experiences of sleeping in boarding through focus groups. Boarding students, compared to day‐students reported 40 minutes more sleep per weeknight ( p .001), with earlier sleep onset ( p = .026), and later wake‐up ( p = .008) times. No significant differences were observed between boarding' and day‐students' DASS‐21 scores. Hierarchical regression revealed longer total weekday sleep time predicted higher psychological well‐being in both boarding and day‐students. Additionally, in boarding students, low homesickness‐loneliness and homesickness‐ruminations further predicted psychological well‐being. Thematic analysis of boarding students' focus group responses revealed that night‐time routine, and restricting technology use at night facilitated sleep. This study supports – in both boarding and day‐students – the importance of sleep for adolescent well‐being. Sleep hygiene can play an important role in boarding student sleep, especially: regular night‐time routine and restricting technology use at night. Finally, these findings suggest that poor sleep and homesickness have an adverse effect on boarding student psychological well‐being. This study highlights the importance of strategies which promote sleep hygiene and minimize homesickness, in boarding school students.
Publisher: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health
Date: 23-06-2015
DOI: 10.5271/SJWEH.3509
Abstract: The aim of this review was to identify which limited wake shift work schedules (LWSW) best promote sleep, alertness, and performance. LWSW are fixed work/rest cycles where the time-at-work does is ≤8 hours and there is >1 rest period per day, on average, for ≥2 consecutive days. These schedules are commonly used in safety-critical industries such as transport and maritime industries. Literature was sourced using PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. We identified 20 independent studies (plus a further 2 overlapping studies), including 5 laboratory and 17 field-based studies focused on maritime watch keepers, ship bridge officers, and long-haul train drivers. The measurement of outcome measures was varied, incorporating subjective and objective measures of sleep: sleep diaries (N=5), actigraphy (N=4), and polysomnography, (N=3) sleepiness: Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (N=5), visual analog scale (VAS) alertness (N=2) and author-derived measures (N=2) and performance: Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) (N=5), Reaction Time or Vigilance tasks (N=4), Vector and Letter Cancellation Test (N=1), and subjective performance (N=2). Of the three primary rosters examined (6 hours-on/6 hours-off, 8 hours-on/8 hours-off and 4 hours-on/8 hours-off), the 4 hours-on/8 hours-off roster was associated with better sleep and lower levels of sleepiness. In iduals working 4 hours-on/8 hours-off rosters averaged 1 hour more sleep per night than those working 6 hours-on/6 hours-off and 1.3 hours more sleep than those working 8 hours-on/8 hours-off (P<0.01). More broadly, findings indicate that LWSW schedules were associated with better sleep and lower sleepines in the case of (i) shorter time-at-work, (ii) more frequent rest breaks, (iii) shifts that start and end at the same clock time every 24 hours, and (iv) work shifts commencing in the daytime (as opposed to night). The findings for performance remain incomplete due to the small number of studies containing a performance measure and the heterogeneity of performance measures within those that did. The literature supports the utility of LWSW in industries where in iduals sleep at or near the workplace as they facilitate at least some sleep during the biological night and minimize deficits associated with time-on-shift with shorter shifts. Overall, the 4 hour-on/8 hour-off roster best promoted sleep and minimized sleepiness compared to other LWSW schedules. Nevertheless, and considering the safety-critical nature of industries which employ LWSW, the limited literature needs to be greatly expanded with specific focus on the consequences for performance and comparison to mainstream rosters.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-11-2019
No related grants have been discovered for Alex Agostini.