Annabel Rivers-Stone
Pronouns: She/Her
About
My research project
Defining and reducing 'bedtime procrastination' to promote better sleep in shift workers.Background:
Shift workers experience 198% increased odds of poor sleep quality compared to non-shift workers. Beyond physical risk, such as cardiovascular disease and raised blood pressure, poor sleep in shift workers significantly increase the risk of mistakes that can cause harm not just the individual but others. A major contributor to poor-quality sleep is ‘bedtime procrastination’, i.e., a failure to go to bed at an intended time, without the influence of external factors. However, it remains unclear what ‘bedtime procrastination’ means in behavioural terms. This PhD aims to (a) explore and define the behaviours involved in ‘bedtime procrastination’, and (b) develop an intervention to reduce 'bedtime procrastination' behaviour in shift workers.
Method:
Study 1 (scoping review) will document how bedtime procrastination has been defined and operationalised in sleep health studies, with especial focus on the behaviours that are considered to occur during bedtime procrastination.
In study 2 (qualitative study) I will interview shift workers to understand how they manage sleep behaviours, what behaviours they engage with when they are procrastinating bedtime, and their identifiable struggles with sleep.
Study 3a (cross-sectional survey) will identify which 'bedtime procrastination' behaviours are most strongly related to sleep outcomes and study 3b (predictive study) will model the modifiable determinants of 'bedtime procrastination' behaviours.
Study 4 (mapping study) will analyse sleep guidance currently available to shift workers across the UK, to explore how and to what extent this tackles the behaviours identified in Study 2.
Study 5 (co-design study) will develop a theory- and evidence-based intervention to reduce 'bedtime procrastination' in shift workers.
Study 6 (qualitative study) will assess the acceptability of the co-designed intervention.
Supervisors
Background:
Shift workers experience 198% increased odds of poor sleep quality compared to non-shift workers. Beyond physical risk, such as cardiovascular disease and raised blood pressure, poor sleep in shift workers significantly increase the risk of mistakes that can cause harm not just the individual but others. A major contributor to poor-quality sleep is ‘bedtime procrastination’, i.e., a failure to go to bed at an intended time, without the influence of external factors. However, it remains unclear what ‘bedtime procrastination’ means in behavioural terms. This PhD aims to (a) explore and define the behaviours involved in ‘bedtime procrastination’, and (b) develop an intervention to reduce 'bedtime procrastination' behaviour in shift workers.
Method:
Study 1 (scoping review) will document how bedtime procrastination has been defined and operationalised in sleep health studies, with especial focus on the behaviours that are considered to occur during bedtime procrastination.
In study 2 (qualitative study) I will interview shift workers to understand how they manage sleep behaviours, what behaviours they engage with when they are procrastinating bedtime, and their identifiable struggles with sleep.
Study 3a (cross-sectional survey) will identify which 'bedtime procrastination' behaviours are most strongly related to sleep outcomes and study 3b (predictive study) will model the modifiable determinants of 'bedtime procrastination' behaviours.
Study 4 (mapping study) will analyse sleep guidance currently available to shift workers across the UK, to explore how and to what extent this tackles the behaviours identified in Study 2.
Study 5 (co-design study) will develop a theory- and evidence-based intervention to reduce 'bedtime procrastination' in shift workers.
Study 6 (qualitative study) will assess the acceptability of the co-designed intervention.
University roles and responsibilities
- PALS mentor
- SEDarc student representative