Research on Sleep
Research on people's sleep habits is important for understanding which habits and circumstances are associated with normal sleep and sleep problems, and to find out which treatment techniques can be helpful when people have slept poorly for a long time. The first recommended treatment for insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In short, the treatment involves mapping one's sleep habits and testing new behaviors and thought patterns related to sleep. Since anxiety is common (and disruptive to sleep), techniques for managing negative thoughts are often included. At Karlstad University, our research focuses mainly on why people develop long-term sleep problems, how recovery from these problems occurs, and what role disturbed sleep plays in mental health and illness.
Sleep is something everyone can relate to because everyone sleeps, more or less well. Sleep is important and necessary for learning and physical and mental recovery. At the same time, it’s important to know that we recover well from short periods of sleeplessness and that everyone has occasional bad nights. If you have a bad night once a week or sleep poorly for a time after something stressful happens, it's perfectly normal and probably doesn’t need treatment.
As long as sleep functions well, we rarely think about how our habits affect sleep or the consequences of poor sleep. But when problems arise, it’s easy to get stuck in negative thought patterns and adopt habits that work in the short term to help you cope and sleep but disrupt natural sleep drives in the long run. Examples include taking naps, consuming stimulating drinks too late, overthinking sleep problems, and avoiding exercise or activities that are usually enjoyable. Sleep changes throughout life: the younger we are, the more sleep we need, and the more deep sleep we get. In adolescence, significant changes affect sleep: biologically, the body adjusts to staying up later in the evening and sleeping later in the morning. Combined with increased independence and access to entertainment and social media around the clock, it can be easy to reverse the sleep cycle and feel tired during school days.
Three Main Research Areas
Adolescents sleep
We see an alarming trend with more teens getting too little sleep during school weeks and those who sleep too little feeling unwell. My research focuses on understanding which demographic, health factors, and habits are associated with sufficient versus insufficient sleep. The most exciting part is hearing what young people say about their sleep. There's much to learn, and together with researchers from three other universities, we are developing school interventions to improve sleep..
The Importance of Cognitive Aspects for Sleep
his mainly concerns negative thinking and misconceptions about sleep, which in several studies have been shown to increase the risk of long-term sleep problems. Treatments that influence people’s thoughts about sleep are also associated with better sleep. An exciting new finding was that treatment for excessive anxiety also seemed to affect sleep problems (see "A Study on Anxiety").
Non-pharmacological Treatments for Insomnia
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is the "golden standard" and can be provided by several professional groups, such as psychologists and specialized nurses. CBT-I research has focused on patients in somewhat neglected groups, such as young people or those with psychiatric comorbidities. But it doesn't suit everyone to attend a "sleep school" and monitor schedules and new lifestyle habits. Therefore, it is important to conduct independent tests of commercial products and alternative treatments for sleep problems. Some examples include floating tank therapy and sleep robots.
Ongoing Studies
- Promoting Adolescents Sleep – Short and long-term effects on mental health. Collaboration with researchers at Kristianstad University, Karolinska Institute, and Örebro University.
- Sleep, Media Habits, and Lifestyle among Adolescents. Collaboration with Kristianstad University. Read more on the project's website at hkr.se.
- A Study on Sleep Robots.
- Systematic Reviews of CBT-I Components together with researchers at Karolinska Institute.
- A Study on Anxiety – Recruitment of participants for the RESPIT project has been completed. Read more about the study’s scientific method and purpose here. A manuscript with the main findings has been submitted for publication. A link will be available soon.
Preliminary results have been presented as part of the following theses:
Rumination-Focused CBT for Depression, Anxiety, and Insomnia – Early signs of treatment effects in a transdiagnostic group treatment in a primary care context.
Rumination-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Comorbid Psychological Problems: Effects on Repetitive Negative Thinking and Sleep Problems.