The proposed K23 career development award will enable Dr. Carmela Alcantara to establish an independent program of research in behavioral medicine that emphasizes the study of sleep deficiency, psychosocial vulnerability, and health. To do so, Dr. Alcantara, a clinical psychologist with expertise in racial/ethnic minority mental health and health disparities, will first require training in health psychology, sleep medicine, an analysis of complex longitudinal data. She has assembled an outstanding multidisciplinary team of mentors to provide training in: (1) health psychology; (2) sleep physiology, epidemiology, and research methods; (3) analysis of complex longitudinal data collected continuously and in real-time; (4) certification in behavioral sleep medicine from the American Board of Sleep Medicine to include didactic and clinical training in sleep assessment, polysomnography testing, scoring, and interpretation; and (5) research dissemination and professional development. The career development plan includes completion of an MPH degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. In this K23, Dr. Alcantara will test the first hypothesis of her lon-term Self-Regulation Model of Sleep and Cardiovascular Health, which proposes that there are bidirectional, within-subject associations between sleep deficiency and self-regulation resources. Over 50 million adults in the United States suffer from sleep deficiency (deficits in th quantity or quality of sleep obtained), independent of sleep disorders. Sleep deficiency is associated with high economic costs, disability, morbidity, and death for millions of Americans. While racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in sleep deficiency are well documented, little research has examined the specific modifiable factors driving sleep disparities. I will conduct an observational study with a single cohort of 80 healthy adults, collecting observational data for 40 days on sleep and performance on self- regulation tasks using unobtrusive and continuous data collection methods. I will use (1) actigraphy to collect data on sleep duration and sleep efficiency, and (2) ecological momentary assessment to monitor self- regulation resources. I hypothesize that sleep deficiency on one night will be associated with less self- regulation resources during the next day; and that less self-regulation during that day will be associated with worse sleep deficiency for that night (a bidirectional or cybernetic, vicious cycle). I will aso explore whether socioeconomic status modifies these associations. Few simple explanatory models with testable hypotheses that lead to targeted interventions to improve sleep have been tested. I propose a simple, intuitive model that, if supported, will lead to simple, scalable interventions focused on self-regulation that could improve sleep, and in turn could provide substantial public health benefit.

Public Health Relevance

Over 50 million US adults suffer from sleep deficiency (inadequate or mistimed sleep, independent of a sleep disorder), and sleep deficiency is associated with substantial public health burden. Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in sleep are well established, although the mechanisms driving these disparities are not well understood. Using unobtrusive and continuous data collection methods, this observational study aims to identify a novel behavioral target to improve sleep by examining whether sleep deficiency is associated with deficits in self-regulation resources, and exploring if socioeconomic status alters this association.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
Project #
5K23HL125748-02
Application #
9134826
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHL1)
Program Officer
Brown, Marishka
Project Start
2015-09-01
Project End
2020-04-30
Budget Start
2016-05-01
Budget End
2017-04-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Social Welfare/Work
DUNS #
049179401
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10027
Alcántara, Carmela; Giorgio Cosenzo, Luciana Andrea; Fan, Weijia et al. (2017) Anxiety sensitivity and racial differences in sleep duration: Results from a national survey of adults with cardiovascular disease. J Anxiety Disord 48:102-108
Burg, Matthew M; Schwartz, Joseph E; Kronish, Ian M et al. (2017) Does Stress Result in You Exercising Less? Or Does Exercising Result in You Being Less Stressed? Or Is It Both? Testing the Bi-directional Stress-Exercise Association at the Group and Person (N of 1) Level. Ann Behav Med 51:799-809
Moise, Nathalie; Ye, Siqin; Alcántara, Carmela et al. (2017) Depressive symptoms and decision-making preferences in patients with comorbid illnesses. J Psychosom Res 92:63-66
Alcántara, Carmela; Patel, Sanjay R; Carnethon, Mercedes et al. (2017) Stress and Sleep: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study. SSM Popul Health 3:713-721
Simonelli, Guido; Dudley, Katherine A; Weng, Jia et al. (2017) Neighborhood Factors as Predictors of Poor Sleep in the Sueño Ancillary Study of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Sleep 40:
Denton, Ellen-Ge D; Shaffer, Jonathan A; Alcantara, Carmela et al. (2016) Erratum to: Neighborhood matters: the impact of Hispanic ethnic density on future depressive symptoms 1-year following an ACS event among Hispanic patients. J Behav Med 39:179-80
Simonelli, Guido; Dudley, Katherine A; Weng, Jia et al. (2016) Neighborhood Factors as Predictors of Poor Sleep in the Sueño Ancillary Study of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). Sleep :
Alcántara, Carmela; Biggs, Mary L; Davidson, Karina W et al. (2016) Sleep Disturbances and Depression in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Sleep 39:915-25
Alcántara, Carmela; Li, Xinliang; Wang, Ye et al. (2016) Treatment moderators and effectiveness of Engagement and Counseling for Latinos intervention on worry reduction in a low-income primary care sample. J Consult Clin Psychol 84:1016-1022
Cespedes, Elizabeth M; Hu, Frank B; Redline, Susan et al. (2016) Comparison of Self-Reported Sleep Duration With Actigraphy: Results From the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sueño Ancillary Study. Am J Epidemiol 183:561-73

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