Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Insomnia is a devastating disorder which is associated with significant nighttime as well as daytime impairments. In particular, fatigue is the most prominent daytime complaint among people with insomnia. While studies have found a positive association between sleep and fatigue in poor sleepers, it remains unclear how the sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue are interrelated. One possibility to further understand this relationship would be to examine the variability, or the day-to-day fluctuations, of poor sleep and fatigue. For example, we can determine whether daytime fatigue reliably follows a poor night of sleep, or whether levels of fatigue are not dependent on the previous night's sleep. By exploring the temporal fluctuations among these two constructs, we can understand whether poor sleep and daytime fatigue occur in accordance with one another over time, or whether they are relatively independent phenomena. The objective of my doctoral research is to examine the variability of the relationship between sleep and fatigue among people with insomnia and a good sleeper comparison group. To this end, I will collect two weeks worth of sleep and fatigue data, as well as data on relevant cognitive constructs. Collecting data from both those with and without insomnia will allow for between-group comparisons. The findings from this study can help to improve and inform fatigue-related adjuncts to insomnia treatments. For example, if it is found that reports of daytime fatigue are relatively independent of poor sleep among those with insomnia, this finding can help to invalidate the myth that poor sleep causes fatigue. By understanding that other factors, aside from poor sleep, may have a stronger impact on daytime fatigue, insomnia sufferers may alleviate some of the burden they put on their sleep, which would thus reduce sleep-related anxiety and help improve their overall functioning.