Cited by 131Sleep and related disordersSchizophrenia research and treatmentSleep and Work-Related Fatigue

Disrupting sleep: the effects of sleep loss on psychotic experiences tested in an experimental study with mediation analysis

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Reeve, Sarah, Emsley, Richard, Sheaves, Bryony, Freeman, Daniel·2017·Schizophrenia Bulletin

Abstract

Our view is that insomnia may be a causal factor in the occurrence of psychotic experiences such as paranoia and hallucinations. However, the causal relationship is not established. The aim of the study was to investigate the causal role of insomnia in psychotic experiences via a sleep restriction manipulation. The study was a within-subjects crossover design that included a planned mediation analysis. Sixty-eight nonclinical volunteers underwent a sleep loss condition (restricted to 4 h sleep for 3 nights) and a control condition (standard sleep) in randomized order in 2 consecutive weeks, with a weekend washout period. Psychotic experiences (paranoia, hallucinations, grandiosity, and cognitive disorganization) and candidate mediating variables (negative affect and related processes, working memory, decision making, and perceptual processing) were assessed before and after each condition. Actigraphy verified an average sleep duration of 5 h 15 min in the sleep loss condition, vs 6 h 58 min in the control condition. After the sleep loss condition, relative to the control condition, participants reported significant increases in paranoia, hallucinations, and cognitive disorganization, with no significant changes in grandiosity. The sleep loss condition was also associated with significant increases in negative affect, negative self and other cognitions, worry, and working memory impairment. Mediation analyses indicated that changes in psychotic experiences were mediated by changes in negative affect and related processes, but not memory impairment. The overall conclusion is that insomnia has a causal role in the occurrence of certain psychotic experiences, and that a key route is via negative affect.

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  1. [13]Pearl JC. Causality New York Cambridge; 2000.
  2. [26]Sternemann U, Schneider U, Leweke FM, Bevilacqua CM, Dietrich DE, Emrich HM Pro-psychotic change of binocular depth inversion by sleep deprivation. Nervenarzt. 1997; 68: 593– 596. 9333723

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Authors
Reeve, S., Emsley, R., Sheaves, B., & Freeman, D.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
Corresponding author
Reeve, Sarah
Venue
Schizophrenia Bulletin
Published
2017-08-04
Volume
44
Issue
3
Pages
662-671
ISSN
  • 0586-7614 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-1701
OpenAlex
W2744422692
Cited by
131
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 3
FWCI
19.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Schizophrenia Bulletin (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (098461, 098461/Z/12/Z)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (RP-2014-05-003, 2014-05-003)
  • University of Oxford
  • Medical Research Council (098461/Z/12/Z)
  • Balliol College, University of Oxford
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
Keywords
sleep deprivation, insomnia
MeSH terms
Adult, Affect, Female, Hallucinations, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Male, Paranoid Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia, Sleep Deprivation, Cross-Over Studies, Young Adult, Cognitive Dysfunction

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