CUP Undergraduate Research
Date of Award
Spring 4-1-2016
Document Type
Thesis
College
College of Theology, Arts, & Sciences
Department
Psychology
Degree Name
Psychology, BA
First Advisor
Erin Mueller, PhD
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify whether sleep onset latency (SOL) and rapid eye movement onset latency (ROL) increased or decreased after consuming alcohol. Researchers, Lobo and Tufik (1997), stated that “acute doses of ethanol significantly change the sleep of healthy volunteers” (p. 52). The current study was based on the foundation of alcohol’s effects on sleep among healthy individuals. The populations studied were alcohol-use dependent individuals and healthy individuals. The following measurements were included: Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire Index (PSQI), Schlaffragebogen-A/R (SF-A/R), polysomnography (PSG), and electroencephalogram (EEG). The research design for the present study was a meta-analysis of existing, experimental, and quasi-experimental studies. Overall, 23 studies were included in the data analysis and extraction. Hedge’s g was used to calculate the magnitude of effect sizes; the analyses were calculated with a random effects model with a 95% confidence interval. Overall, there was no statistical significance for the PSQI measure with SOL among the populations. Likewise, there was no statistical significance between the SOL and the ROL of healthy and alcohol-use dependent individuals. However, the ROL for healthy individuals who consumed alcohol prior to sleep was statistically significant and had a large effect size when compared to heavy alcohol users. Future studies should compare specific subgroups of healthy individuals (e.g., age, gender, & ethnicity) and include definitive blood alcohol levels (BALs).