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Short Sleep Duration and Circadian Rhythms: Association with Suicidal Behaviour

Received: 7 March 2017    Accepted: 18 March 2017    Published: 13 April 2017
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Abstract

The current lifestyles in modern societies promote a behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm alterations. Some sleep disorders influence the development of suicidal behaviours. This study aims to review the literature exploring the association of both short sleep duration and sleep circadian rhythms with suicidal behaviours. A review was conducted in the PubMed database, using the query (“circadian rhythms” OR “sleep” OR “sleep disorders”) AND (“suicide” OR “suicidal behaviour” OR “suicidality”). The results were filtered for the last 10 years, with 522 results. Studies relating sleep disorders or circadian rhythms with suicidal behaviours, using a well-defined index for sleep disorders, and any measure of suicidal behaviour, were included. After the selection criteria, 48 studies were selected for qualitative analysis. An association between short sleep duration and an increased risk of suicidal behaviour was found in most of the studies with children/adolescents and adults. Particularly, studies measuring weekend vs. weekday sleep duration suggest a concrete role of behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation in this increased risk. Contrastingly, in studies with the elderly, that association was not significant. For sleep circadian rhythms, the studies point to an association between an evening-type chronotype and suicidal behaviours. The results suggest a significant association of short sleep duration and evening-type chronotype with suicidal behaviours, for youth and adults. Both sleep disorders could be connected through a behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation. These associations can provide possible fields of intervention to prevent suicide.

Published in International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20170202.13
Page(s) 46-62
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Sleep Deprivation, Circadian Rhythm, Suicide, Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempts

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Tânia Isabel Santos Pereira, Sónia Patrícia Vilar Martins, Lia Paula Nogueira Sousa Fernandes. (2017). Short Sleep Duration and Circadian Rhythms: Association with Suicidal Behaviour. International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 2(2), 46-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20170202.13

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    ACS Style

    Tânia Isabel Santos Pereira; Sónia Patrícia Vilar Martins; Lia Paula Nogueira Sousa Fernandes. Short Sleep Duration and Circadian Rhythms: Association with Suicidal Behaviour. Int. J. Psychol. Brain Sci. 2017, 2(2), 46-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20170202.13

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    AMA Style

    Tânia Isabel Santos Pereira, Sónia Patrícia Vilar Martins, Lia Paula Nogueira Sousa Fernandes. Short Sleep Duration and Circadian Rhythms: Association with Suicidal Behaviour. Int J Psychol Brain Sci. 2017;2(2):46-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20170202.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijpbs.20170202.13,
      author = {Tânia Isabel Santos Pereira and Sónia Patrícia Vilar Martins and Lia Paula Nogueira Sousa Fernandes},
      title = {Short Sleep Duration and Circadian Rhythms: Association with Suicidal Behaviour},
      journal = {International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      pages = {46-62},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijpbs.20170202.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20170202.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijpbs.20170202.13},
      abstract = {The current lifestyles in modern societies promote a behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm alterations. Some sleep disorders influence the development of suicidal behaviours. This study aims to review the literature exploring the association of both short sleep duration and sleep circadian rhythms with suicidal behaviours. A review was conducted in the PubMed database, using the query (“circadian rhythms” OR “sleep” OR “sleep disorders”) AND (“suicide” OR “suicidal behaviour” OR “suicidality”). The results were filtered for the last 10 years, with 522 results. Studies relating sleep disorders or circadian rhythms with suicidal behaviours, using a well-defined index for sleep disorders, and any measure of suicidal behaviour, were included. After the selection criteria, 48 studies were selected for qualitative analysis. An association between short sleep duration and an increased risk of suicidal behaviour was found in most of the studies with children/adolescents and adults. Particularly, studies measuring weekend vs. weekday sleep duration suggest a concrete role of behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation in this increased risk. Contrastingly, in studies with the elderly, that association was not significant. For sleep circadian rhythms, the studies point to an association between an evening-type chronotype and suicidal behaviours. The results suggest a significant association of short sleep duration and evening-type chronotype with suicidal behaviours, for youth and adults. Both sleep disorders could be connected through a behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation. These associations can provide possible fields of intervention to prevent suicide.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Short Sleep Duration and Circadian Rhythms: Association with Suicidal Behaviour
    AU  - Tânia Isabel Santos Pereira
    AU  - Sónia Patrícia Vilar Martins
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    T2  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
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    AB  - The current lifestyles in modern societies promote a behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm alterations. Some sleep disorders influence the development of suicidal behaviours. This study aims to review the literature exploring the association of both short sleep duration and sleep circadian rhythms with suicidal behaviours. A review was conducted in the PubMed database, using the query (“circadian rhythms” OR “sleep” OR “sleep disorders”) AND (“suicide” OR “suicidal behaviour” OR “suicidality”). The results were filtered for the last 10 years, with 522 results. Studies relating sleep disorders or circadian rhythms with suicidal behaviours, using a well-defined index for sleep disorders, and any measure of suicidal behaviour, were included. After the selection criteria, 48 studies were selected for qualitative analysis. An association between short sleep duration and an increased risk of suicidal behaviour was found in most of the studies with children/adolescents and adults. Particularly, studies measuring weekend vs. weekday sleep duration suggest a concrete role of behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation in this increased risk. Contrastingly, in studies with the elderly, that association was not significant. For sleep circadian rhythms, the studies point to an association between an evening-type chronotype and suicidal behaviours. The results suggest a significant association of short sleep duration and evening-type chronotype with suicidal behaviours, for youth and adults. Both sleep disorders could be connected through a behaviourally-induced sleep deprivation. These associations can provide possible fields of intervention to prevent suicide.
    VL  - 2
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Center for Health Technology and Services Research/CINTESIS, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Center for Health Technology and Services Research/CINTESIS, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Clinic of Psychiatry and Mental Health, S?o Jo?o Hospital Center, Porto, Portugal

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