Effects of Sleep Hygiene on Mood and Sleep Quality

Tracy Manners

Date of Graduation

Spring 2001

Degree

Master of Science in Psychology

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

James Davis

Abstract

Sleep hygiene involves practices and conditions chosen to advance effective and incessant sleep to improve performances and mood. While there is a large amount of information available advocating sleep hygiene, there is little empirical evidence regarding the specific effects of sleep hygiene. The purpose of this paper is to define sleep hygiene and to investigate the effects of sleep hygiene instruction on sleep change and mood. The current literature primarily focuses on topics such as: sleep deprivation, sleep irregularity, pre-sleep stimulation, quantity of sleep, and the effect of naps on sleep. The purpose of this study are: (1) to evaluate sleep hygiene parameters in a sample of upper division psychology college students (2) to assess change in sleep hygiene practices after psychoeducational information is provided (3) finally, to determine if our sample population displays changes in mood in relation to changes in sleep hygiene practices. Participants completed self-report measures of mood (Profile of Mood States) at two-week time intervals and were given instuctions on logging their sleep for six weeks. An educational discussion was provided after the first two weeks of sleep logging. Comparisons were made between the first time period and second time period on all sleep hygiene characteristics and POMS subscale scores. In addition, 2x2 analyses were employed to determine whether there were differences between gender and all other factors. Significant correlations were found between improvements in nap compared to mood. This suggests that there seems to be a relationship between mood and napping. It may be the case that the less we nap the better our mood.

Subject Categories

Psychology

Copyright

© Tracy Manners

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Dissertation/Thesis

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