Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Efficacy of Self-control/Self-regulation Training Interventions to Improve Sleep Habits: Impact on Employee Fatigue

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

In a variety of settings (e.g., transportation, power-plant management), inadequate sleep is a major contributing factor to mental fatigue, decrements in performance, and safety lapses. Inadequate sleep can arise from a variety of uncontrollable factors, such as illness or stress, but can also result from individual failures to properly manage sleep schedules. For example, in a recent survey, 70% of adults reported that their work or school schedules actually allow for adequate sleep each night. A substantial portion of these individuals, however, go to work or school at-risk for drowsiness and mental fatigue issues. Two possible sources of difficulties for these individuals are failures of self-control or failures of self-regulation. This project investigates the efficacy of self-control and self-regulation training programs that are targeted towards building skills for individuals to better manage their sleep schedules. Development of these skills, in turn, is expected to reduce the frequency of situations of inadequate sleep at work and school. This research project involves a translation of clinical self-control and self-regulation interventions to non-clinical use through a combined self-control and self-regulation training approach. The purpose is to determine whether a fully integrated intervention has beneficial effects on sleep-duration management. A unique feature of this project is the objective assessment of sleep duration and sleep interruptions obtained through wrist actigraphs, which provide reliable and valid indicators of sleep/non-sleep states. The research includes a comoparison of these objective measures with daily self-report questionnaires of sleep duration and fatigue. Together, these assessments allows for a determination of whether the intervention effects pertain mainly to subjective estimates of sleep duration, objective measures of sleep duration, or some combination of the two. The new knowledge from these studies may have significant implications for reduction of sleep deprivation in work and school settings.