| 1. |
- Hellström, Amanda, et al.
(författare)
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A classical test theory evaluation of the Sleep Condition Indicator accounting for the ordinal nature of item response data
- 2019
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 14:3, s. 1-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Insomnia symptoms are common among young adults and affect about 5% to 26% of 19 to 34-year-olds. In addition, insomnia is associated with poor mental health and may affect daily performance. In research, as well as in clinical practice, sleep questionnaires are used to screen for and diagnose insomnia. However, most questionnaires are not developed according to current DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. An exception is the recently developed Sleep Condition Indicator (SCI), an eight-item scale screening for insomnia. Aim The aim of this study was to perform a Classical Test Theory (CTT) based psychometric evaluation of the SCI in a sample of Swedish university students, by taking the ordinal nature of item level data into account. Methods The SCI was translated into Swedish and distributed online to undergraduate students at three Swedish universities, within programs of health, psychology, science or economy. Of 3673 invited students, 634 (mean age 26.9 years; SD = 7.4) completed the questionnaire that, in addition to the SCI, comprised other scales on sleep, stress, lifestyle and students' study environment. Data were analyzed according to CTT investigating data completeness, item homogeneity and unidimensionality. Results Polychoric based explorative factor analysis suggested unidimensionality of the SCI, and internal consistency was good (Cronbach's alpha, 0.91; ordinal alpha, 0.94). SCI scores correlated with the Insomnia Severity Index (-0.88) as well as with sleep quality (-0.85) and perceived stress (-0.50), supporting external construct validity. Conclusions These observations support the integrity of the of the SCI. The SCI demonstrates sound CTT-based psychometric properties, supporting its use as an insomnia screening tool.
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| 2. |
- Luik, Annemarie I, et al.
(författare)
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Sleep disturbance and intrusive memories after presenting to the emergency department following a traumatic motor vehicle accident : an exploratory analysis.
- 2019
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Ingår i: European Journal of Psychotraumatology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2000-8198 .- 2000-8066. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Sleep disturbances are common after traumatic events and have been hypothesized to be a risk factor in the development of psychopathology such as that associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Objective: To assess the association between intrusive memories, a core clinical feature of PTSD, and self-reported sleep disturbance shortly after experiencing or witnessing a motor vehicle accident, and whether a brief behavioural intervention (trauma reminder cue and Tetris gameplay) reduced sleep disturbance post-trauma. Method: The exploratory analyses included 71 participants (mean age 39.66, standard deviation 16.32; 37 women, 52.1%) enrolled in a previously published proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited from the emergency department after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic motor vehicle accident. Intrusive memories were assessed with a daily paper-and-pen diary for one week post-trauma, and sleep disturbances with three questions from the Impact of Event Scale-Revised assessing problems initiating sleep, problems maintaining sleep and dreams about the event at one week and one month post-trauma. Missing data were imputed 15 times. Results: The total number of intrusive memories during the first week post-trauma suggested weak to moderate pooled intercorrelations with problems initiating and maintaining sleep. An ordinal regression using imputed data suggested that the intervention had no effect on sleep disturbances, while completers only analyses suggested an improvement in problems maintaining sleep at one week. Conclusions: This exploratory study suggested that experiencing early intrusive memories is related to sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbance might be a particularly important construct to assess in studies involving intrusive memories post-trauma.
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| 3. |
- van der Velpen, Isabelle F., et al.
(författare)
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Psychosocial health modifies associations between HPA-axis function and brain structure in older age
- 2023
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Dysregulation of the negative feedback loop of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may have damaging effects on the brain, potentially under influence of psychosocial health factors. We studied associations between functioning of the negative feedback loop of HPA-axis, measured with a very low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (DST), and brain structure in middle-aged and older adults, and whether these associations were modified by psychosocial health.Methods: From 2006 to 2008, 1259 participants (mean age 57.6 +/- 6.4, 59.6 % female) of the population-based Rotterdam Study completed a very low-dose DST (0.25 mg) and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Self-reported psychosocial health (depressive symptoms, loneliness, marital status, perceived social support) were assessed in the same time period. Multivariable linear and logistic regression were used to study cross-sectional associations between cortisol response and brain volumetrics, cerebral small vessel disease markers and white matter structural integrity. To assess the effect of psychosocial health on these associations, analyses were further stratified for psychosocial health markers.Results: Cortisol response was not associated with markers of global brain structure in the overall study sample. However, in participants with clinically relevant depressive symptoms, a diminished cortisol response was associated with smaller white matter volume (mean difference: - 1.00 mL, 95 %CI = - 1.89;- 0.10) and smaller white matter hyperintensity volume (mean difference: - 0.03 mL (log), 95 %CI = - 0.05;0.00). In participants with low/moderate perceived social support compared to those with high social support, a diminished cortisol response was associated with larger gray matter volume (mean difference: 0.70 mL, 95 %CI = 0.01;1.39) and higher fractional anisotropy (standardized mean difference 0.03, 95 %CI = 0.00;0.06).Conclusion: Diminished function of the HPA-axis is differently associated with brain structure in communitydwelling middle-aged and older adults with clinically relevant depressive symptoms or suboptimal social support, but not in adults without depressive symptoms or with optimal social support.
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| 4. |
- Özel, Faith, et al.
(författare)
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Associations of neuroimaging markers with depressive symptoms over time in middle-aged and elderly persons
- 2023
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Ingår i: Psychological Medicine. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0033-2917 .- 1469-8978. ; 53:10, s. 4355-4363
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Cerebrovascular disease is regarded as a potential cause of late-life depression. Yet, evidence for associations of neuroimaging markers of vascular brain disease with depressive symptoms is inconclusive. We examined the associations of neuroimaging markers and depressive symptoms in a large population-based study of middle-aged and elderly persons over time.Methods A total of 4943 participants (mean age = 64.6 +/- 11.1 years, 55.7% women) from the Rotterdam Study were included. At baseline, total brain volume, gray matter volume, white matter volume, white matter hyperintensities volume, cortical infarcts, lacunar infarcts, microbleeds, white matter fractional anisotropy, and mean diffusivity (MD) were measured with a brain MRI (1.5T). Depressive symptoms were assessed twice with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (median follow-up time: 5.5 years, IQR = 0.9). To assess temporal associations of neuroimaging markers and depressive symptoms, linear mixed models were used.Results A smaller total brain volume (beta = -0.107, 95% CI -0.192 to -0.022), larger white matter hyperintensities volume (beta = 0.047, 95% CI 0.010-0.084), presence of cortical infarcts (beta = 0.194, 95% CI 0.047-0.341), and higher MD levels (beta = 0.060, 95% CI 0.022-0.098) were cross-sectionally associated with more depressive symptoms. Longitudinal analyses showed that small total brain volume (beta = -0.091, 95% CI -0.167 to -0.015) and presence of cortical infarcts (beta = 0.168, 95% CI 0.022-0.314) were associated with increasing depressive symptoms over time. After stratification on age, effect sizes were more pronounced at older ages.Conclusions Neuroimaging markers of white matter microstructural damage were associated with depressive symptoms longitudinally in this study of middle-aged and elderly persons. These associations were more pronounced at older ages, providing evidence for the role of white matter structure in late-life depressive symptomatology.
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