372 Sleep Hygiene Compliance and Sleep in Young Adult Drinkers with Insomnia: A Daily Analysis

Abstract

\n \n \n Empirical evidence linking sleep hygiene practices to subsequent sleep parameters – and the extent to which those compare to evidence-based practices such as stimulus control – is limited. This study examined the daily impact of recommendation compliance on sleep in a sample of young adult drinkers with insomnia.\n \n \n \n Young adults (18-30y; N=56, 75% female) who met diagnostic criteria for insomnia and reported past-month binge drinking wore wrist actigraphy and completed online sleep diaries for 7+ days (492 reports). Diaries assessed compliance with nine sleep hygiene recommendations: to limit naps; limit caffeine; avoid caffeine after 12p; avoid tobacco, alcohol, vigorous exercise, and heavy meals within 2 hours of bedtime; avoid bright light within 30 minutes of bedtime; and utilize a bedtime routine. If participants reported wake after sleep onset, diaries also assessed if they had gotten out of bed and returned to bed only when sleepy (partial stimulus control instructions). Multilevel models examined three outcomes: sleep quality, self-reported sleep efficiency, and actigraphy-measured sleep efficiency (α=.05/3≤.017). Covariates included gender; college enrollment; weekday versus weekend; and between-person differences in insomnia severity, hazardous drinking, and average compliance,\n \n \n \n Participants self-reported better sleep efficiency on days that they avoided naps (B=3.64, p=.004; 95% CI=1.20, 6.08). They also self-reported better sleep quality (B=0.40, p<.001; 95% CI=0.19, 0.60) and sleep efficiency (B=3.94, p<.001; 95% CI=1.76; 6.12) on days that they followed stimulus control. Surprisingly, they reported worse sleep quality (B=-0.28, p=.017; 95% CI=-0.51, -0.05) and sleep efficiency (B=-3.74, p=.002; 95% CI=-6.08, -1.40) on days that they avoided alcohol use before bedtime. No variables were significantly associated with actigraphy-based sleep efficiency. At the between-person level, participants reporting more at-risk drinking reported worse sleep quality (B=-0.04, p=.017; 95% CI=-0.08, -0.01).\n \n \n \n Data provide empirical support for recommendations that young adult drinkers with insomnia avoid naps and get out of bed during nighttime awakenings. Although heavier drinkers reported worse sleep quality than lighter drinkers, they also reported better subjective (but not objective) sleep on nights they drank close to bedtime. We speculate that this is due to later bedtimes on heavy-drinking nights.\n \n \n \n University of Missouri Research Board (PI Miller)\n