Carey, Eden (2024) Sleep and Anxiety: Unravelling the sleep-Generalised Anxiety Disorder Connection. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) can be characterised as experiencing excessive uncontrollable worry about common aspects of daily life and is often associated with sleep disturbances. The research indicates that GAD is associated with challenges in initiating and maintaining sleep, frequent awakenings, and non-restorative sleep. The study utilised polysomnography to objectively measure sleep parameters, including duration of arousal, sleep duration, sleep onset latency, and time spent in each sleep stage in individuals with GAD. The study also examines the role of age and menopausal status as a potential confounding factor. The study included 200 female participants aged 18 to 60, representing diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Participants were categorised into four groups, None-Minimal, Mild, Moderate and Severe anxiety bands based on cut-offs of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7). The results showed a moderate effect size of 0.6, with confidence intervals suggesting a mild to moderate impact. Greater GAD-7 severity was linked to longer sleep onset, reduced slow-wave sleep, and increased duration of arousal during sleep. The study suggests that reducing anxiety may improve sleep quality in those with severe GAD. This highlights the need for anxiety-focused treatments in sleep therapy and suggests further research to understand and address the relationship between anxiety and sleep disturbances.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | generalised anxiety disorder, mental health, sleep architecture, sleep disturbances, sleep onset latency. |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Watling, Chris |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Jan 2026 03:06 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2026 03:06 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | generalised anxiety disorder, mental health, sleep architecture, sleep disturbances, sleep onset latency. |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53083 |
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