Psychology Undergraduate Research Symposium 2021

Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Mood in Depressed Participants With and Without Suicidal Ideation

This is an independent research project focusing on the effects of sleep deprivation in participants with depression. Specifically, analyses were conducted to determine if the presence of suicidal ideation impacted mood during the course of sleep deprivation. 

PRESENTED BY
US National Institutes of Health Grants
College of Arts & Sciences 2022
Advised By
Dr. Jennifer Goldschmied
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Philip Gehrman
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry
PRESENTED BY
US National Institutes of Health Grants
College of Arts & Sciences 2022
Advised By
Dr. Jennifer Goldschmied
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Philip Gehrman
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry

Comments

May 01 | 12:13 PM : by mhunt@upenn.edu

Hi Emma,

This is such an important line of research and you were testing a sensible hypothesis.  Nice job.  I'm a bit puzzled by your overall findings, however.  It appears from the graphs that you didn't actually get the expected acute remission of depressive symptoms in either depressed group during the period of sleep deprivation.  Why do you think this might be?  Was the time course too short to observe it?  If indeed you did not replicate that finding, then does the lack of difference between the two MDD groups tell us much?  Is it possible that the single item visual analog scales weren't quite sensitive enough to capture the effect?  

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cheers,

Dr. Hunt