Affective state dependence and relative trait stability of perfectionism in sleep disturbances.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the degree of absolute change, relative stability and state dependence of trait perfectionism in sleep disturbances in a sample of university students. METHOD: Participants completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and two items concerning sleep difficulties. The mean age at T0 (baseline) was 19.59 years (SD = 1.61, range = 17-25) and 62.5% of the sample were female. RESULTS: Absolute changes in self-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism were found. Relative stability was found for all perfectionism dimensions. Prior and concurrent sleep disturbances explained a significant amount of variance in perfectionism. Controlling for the effects of sleep measures, prior self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism were the only significant predictors of subsequent self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism, at T1 and T2. Difficulties falling asleep at T1 and socially-prescribed perfectionism at T0 were significant predictors of socially-prescribed perfectionism at T1. CONCLUSION: Despite significant changes in perfectionism mean scores over the follow-up, the correlation analyses demonstrated that participants remained quite stable in regard to their relative levels of perfectionism. As concurrent difficulties initiating sleep also predicted concurrent socially-prescribed perfectionism, this seems to be one dimension of perfectionism with trait-state characteristics.

Affective state dependence and relative trait stability of perfectionism in sleep disturbances / Dependência do estado afetivo e estabilidade relativa do traço do perfeccionismo nas perturbações de sono

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the degree of absolute change, relative stability and state dependence of trait perfectionism in sleep disturbances in a sample of university students. METHOD: Participants completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and two items concerning sleep difficulties. The mean age at T0 (baseline) was 19.59 years (SD = 1.61, range = 17-25) and 62.5 percent of the sample were female. RESULTS: Absolute changes in self-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism were found. Relative stability was found for all perfectionism dimensions. Prior and concurrent sleep disturbances explained a significant amount of variance in perfectionism. Controlling for the effects of sleep measures, prior self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism were the only significant predictors of subsequent self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism, at T1 and T2. Difficulties falling asleep at T1 and socially-prescribed perfectionism at T0 were significant predictors of socially-prescribed perfectionism at T1. CONCLUSION: Despite significant changes in perfectionism mean scores over the follow-up, the correlation analyses demonstrated that participants remained quite stable in regard to their relative levels of perfectionism. As concurrent difficulties initiating sleep also predicted concurrent socially-prescribed perfectionism, this seems to be one dimension of perfectionism with trait-state characteristics.

OBJETIVOS: Avaliar o grau de mudança absoluta, de estabilidade relativa e dependência do estado do perfeccionismo nas perturbações de sono numa amostra de estudantes universitários. MÉTODO: Os sujeitos completaram a Escala Multidimensional do Perfeccionismo e dois itens sobre dificuldades em dormir. Os dados foram recolhidos em três momentos de avaliação, separados por um intervalo de um ano acadêmico. A idade média dos sujeitos no T0 era de 19,59 anos (DP = 1,61, variação = 17-25); 62,5 por cento eram mulheres. RESULTADOS: Foram encontradas ao longo do follow-up mudanças absolutas para o perfeccionismo auto-orientado e para o perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito. Foi encontrada estabilidade relativa para todas as dimensões do perfeccionismo. As dificuldades de sono prévias e concorrentes explicaram significativamente a variância do perfeccionismo. Controlando o efeito das dificuldades em dormir, o perfeccionismo auto-orientado e o perfeccionismo orientado para o outro prévios foram os únicos preditores significativos de perfeccionismo auto-orientado e perfeccionismo orientado para o outro (T1 e T2). As dificuldades em iniciar o sono no T1 e o perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito prévio (T0) revelaram-se preditores significativos de perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito no T1. CONCLUSÃO: Apesar das mudanças significativas nas pontuações médias de perfeccionismo ao longo do follow-up, as análises de correlação demonstraram que os participantes permaneceram relativamente estáveis nos seus níveis de perfeccionismo. Uma vez que as dificuldades em iniciar o sono concorrentes se revelaram um preditor significativo de perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito, esta é a dimensão do perfeccionismo que possui características traço-estado.

Sleep disturbances, body mass index and eating behaviour in undergraduate students.

This study investigates the association between sleep disturbances, body mass index (BMI) and eating behaviour in a sample of undergraduate students. The sample comprises 870 medicine and dentistry students from Coimbra University (62.5% females), aged between 17 and 25 years. The Eating Attitudes Test-40 was used to measure eating behaviour, and two questions were applied addressing difficulties of initiating sleep (DIS) and difficulties of maintaining sleep (DMS). A sleep disturbance index (SDI) was calculated from the sum of DIS and DMS scores. Body mass index (BMI) was determined from self-reported weight and height. The correlation analyses generally indicated that global eating disturbance, bulimic behaviour dimension and social pressure to eat were associated particularly with sleep difficulties. An association between diet concerns and sleep difficulties was less consistent. Regression analyses showed that bulimic behaviour (BB) and social pressure to eat (SPE) dimensions were associated significantly with sleep difficulties (DIS, DMS, SDI) in the total sample (BB: from P<0.01 to P<0.001; SPE: P<0.05) and in males (BB: from P<0.05 to P<0.001; SPE: P<0.05) and with insomnia symptoms (P<0.01). In females, bulimic behaviour was the only factor associated significantly with sleep difficulties (SDI, DIS; P<0.01) and with insomnia symptoms (P<0.05). Although BMI was correlated negatively with sleep difficulties (P<0.05), regression analyses indicated that it was not associated significantly with them. Our findings support an association between eating behaviour and sleep disturbances in both genders, which may have treatment implications.

The postpartum depression screening scale: is it valid to screen for antenatal depression?

The purpose of the study was to analyse for the first time the validity of a slightly modified version of the Portuguese Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS), to be used as a screening instrument for antenatal depression. Specifically, the aims were to analyse its psychometric properties, to determine PDSS cutoff points and associated conditional probabilities to screen for depression according to DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria and to compare its screening performance with that of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Five hundred and three pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy completed both questionnaires and were interviewed face-to-face with the Portuguese version of the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies. The Portuguese version of the Operational Criteria Checklist for Psychotic Illness was used to obtain DSM-IV and ICD-10 diagnoses of depression, our gold standards for caseness. PDSS reliability and validity were very good and comparable to those obtained in the postpartum validation studies developed in Portugal and in other countries, showing satisfactory sensitivity and specificity combinations (≅80%). Compared with BDI-II, it has the advantage of being more specific for the motherhood context. Although developed for postpartum depression, PDSS is accurate to screen for antenatal depression, and it could be very useful for clinical and epidemiologic purposes.