Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item 'I'm doomed!': audience responses to media reporting on the link between sleep and Alzheimer's disease(Oxford University Press, 2025-07-01) Breheny M; Ross I; Gibson RThe media are influential in shaping beliefs and attitudes towards health practices and behaviours, and the science of sleep is often disseminated through online news media. This paper explores audience responses to media reporting on the link between disrupted sleep and Alzheimer’s disease. The news article analysed was based on a scientific publication reporting on the link between sleep disruption and Alzheimer’s disease and the institutional press release about that publication. The online news article and the 536 Facebook comments posted in response were analysed using thematic analysis. Although the scientific article and institutional press release were guarded about the implications of the research for human health, the media article used sensationalist reporting on the impact of a single night’s sleep disruption to emphasize the everyday implications of the findings. Audience members who identified as sleeping poorly responded fatalistically, whereas commentors who identified as sleeping well were reassured by the news article. The sensationalist framing provoked an affective response in audience members, which at times led to disbelief in the specific message or questioning of scientific research. Sensationalist media reporting of science has unintended consequences. Attempts to engage audiences with science communication that is simplistic and personal may encourage readers to reject scientific evidence as logically incoherent. This approach discounts the ability of audiences to weigh evidence and accept complexity.Item Sensationalising Sleep: Perspectives and Protocols for Understanding Discourses of Sleep Health in Aotearoa New Zealand(John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Health Promotion Association, 2025-07) Gibson RSufficient sleep is a basic right, vital for functioning and wellbeing. Socioecological disparities in sleep status are increasingly highlighted. However, broader social and cultural factors, including beliefs and practicalities of sleep, are seldom considered. This is particularly important for bicultural countries such as Aotearoa New Zealand, where mainstream discourses and health promotion have been colonised. Media provides a platform for shaping beliefs and attitudes concerning sleep. Media messaging contributes to definitions of 'normal sleep' and sensationalised messages around sleep(lessness) and disease-seldom accounting for nuanced differences across the lifespan or Indigenous knowledge and practises concerning sleep and wellbeing. How messages concerning sleep are delivered, interpreted, and resisted varies and warrants exploring-particularly among populations predisposed to sleep disturbances. This paper provides a narrative review of the social and cultural factors influencing sleep and highlights the paucity of research in this space. Responding to these gaps, a current research agenda is presented concerning sleep-related discourses and practises in Aotearoa New Zealand. This includes explorations of media representations of sleep, key audience interpretations, and the development of a theoretical framework to inform appropriate sleep-related research and health promotion relevant to contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.Item Time in Bed, Sleeping Difficulties, and Nutrition in Pregnant New Zealand Women.(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2023-02-23) McDonald BW; Watson PE; Trakada GWe consider the relationship between time in bed (TIB) and sleeping difficulties with demographic variables and nutrient intakes in the second (T2) and third (T3) trimester of pregnancy. Data were acquired from a volunteer sample of New Zealand pregnant women. In T2 and T3, questionnaires were administered, diets were obtained from one 24 h recall and three weighed food records, and physical activity was measured with the use of three 24 h diaries. In total, 370 women had complete information in T2 and 310 in T3. In both trimesters, TIB was associated with welfare or disability status, marital status and age. In T2, TIB was associated with work, childcare, education and pre-pregnancy alcohol consumption. There were fewer significant lifestyle covariates in T3. In both trimesters, TIB declined with increasing dietary intake, especially water, protein, biotin, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and manganese. Adjusted for weight of dietary intake and welfare/disability, TIB declined with increasing nutrient density of B vitamins, saturated fats, potassium, fructose and lactose; and TIB increased with carbohydrate, sucrose and vitamin E. Subjective sleeping difficulties increased with the week of gestation, morning sickness severity, anxiety, dairy and saturated fat intake, and they decreased with fruit, vegetable and monounsaturated fat intake. The study highlights the changing influence of covariates throughout the pregnancy and corroborates several published findings on the relationship of diet and sleep.Item Health effects of transport noise(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-04-26) Welch D; Shepherd D; Dirks KN; Reddy RThe relationship between transport noise and health outcomes is complex, in part because of the large number of factors involved as well as the range of health impacts, both direct and indirect. To enable the reader to come to grips with the complexity, we have divided the health outcomes into groups: those that are more directly linked to transport noise exposure and those that are more indirectly linked. Four health outcomes, namely annoyance, cognitive disruption, sleep problems, and noise-induced hearing loss, can be directly attributable to transport noise exposure. Less direct outcomes are stress, mental health, metabolic health, cardiovascular health, and overall health-related quality of life. Stress may occur as a direct response to noise, or may occur in response to the aforementioned direct effects. The stress response is a survival mechanism in the short term, but in the long term, stress may lead to systemic health conditions, namely metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes, and to mental health conditions. Finally, a global health outcome that incorporates all of the more direct outcomes is health-related quality of life. Other exposures associated with transport noise that may explain parts of the health outcomes need to be acknowledged, including exposure to social inequities, air pollution, and vibration. These may all be more likely to be experienced by people who are exposed to transport noise in the community and may thus influence the outcomes. Finally, transport noise appears to have more impact on health in those who are noise sensitive, thus noise sensitivity is a key moderator of all the effects observed.Item Balancing sleeping with guardianship: narratives of sleep during informal dementia care(Bristol University Press and Policy Press, 2024-02-01) Gibson R; Helm A; Ross I; Gander P; Breheny MSleep has been recognised as compromised in dementia care. This study aims to represent the experiences and needs of informal carers via sleep-related accounts. Retrospective interviews were conducted with 20 carers concerning sleep changes across the trajectory of dementia care. Key interactive narratives were around: ‘sleep as my sacrifice’; tensions between identities of being a ‘sleeper’ versus ‘guardian’; and ‘sleep as a luxury’. Maintaining healthy sleep and preferable sleep practices is challenging while balancing the responsibilities of dementia-related care. Acknowledging sleep as a sociological practice enables a greater understanding of carers’ nuanced experience and support needs.Item Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability Change with Sleep Stage in Dairy Cows(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-07-14) Hunter LB; Haskell MJ; Langford FM; O'Connor C; Webster JR; Stafford KJ; Van Eerdenburg FJCMChanges to the amount and patterns of sleep stages could be a useful tool to assess the effects of stress or changes to the environment in animal welfare research. However, the gold standard method, polysomnography PSG, is difficult to use with large animals such as dairy cows. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) can be used to predict sleep stages in humans and could be useful as an easier method to identify sleep stages in cows. We compared the mean HR and HRV and lying posture of dairy cows at pasture and when housed, with sleep stages identified through PSG. HR and HRV were higher when cows were moving their heads or when lying flat on their side. Overall, mean HR decreased with depth of sleep. There was more variability in time between successive heart beats during REM sleep, and more variability in time between heart beats when cows were awake and in REM sleep. These shifts in HR measures between sleep stages followed similar patterns despite differences in mean HR between the groups. Our results show that HR and HRV measures could be a promising alternative method to PSG for assessing sleep in dairy cows.Item Acute effects of fresh versus dried Hayward green kiwifruit on sleep quality, mood, and sleep-related urinary metabolites in healthy young men with good and poor sleep quality(Frontiers Media S.A., 2023-03-14) Kanon AP; Giezenaar C; Roy NC; McNabb WC; Henare SJ; Scholey ABackground and aims: Daily kiwifruit (KF) consumption has been associated with improved sleep quality, but underlying physiological mechanisms are unknown. This study examined acute effects of fresh and dried green KF, compared with a water control, on sleep quality, mood, and urinary serotonin and melatonin metabolite concentrations. Methods: 24 men (age: 29 ± 1 years, body mass index: 24 ± 1 kg/m2) with poor (n = 12) or good (n = 12) sleep quality participated in a randomized, single-blind crossover study. One of three treatments was consumed with a standardized evening meal; (1) the flesh of two fresh green KF, (2) dried green KF powder (including skin; equivalent to dry matter of two fresh KF) mixed with water, or (3) a water control, in their own home. Subjective and objective sleep quality, mood, waking urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), vitamin C and B-vitamin concentrations were determined. Results: Regardless of sleep quality group, compared to control, morning sleepiness, alertness upon awakening, and vigor were improved (p < 0.05) after dried KF consumption. Compared to control, both fresh and dried KF treatments tended (p < 0.1) toward improved esteem and total mood disturbance. Both KF treatments increased (fresh +1.56 ± 0.4 ng/g, p = 0.001; dried: +1.30 ± 0.4 ng/g, p = 0.004) urinary concentration of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA compared to the control (4.32 ± 0.4 ng/g). In poor sleepers, ease of awakening improved by 24% after dried KF consumption (p = 0.005) and tended to improve by 13% after fresh KF intake (p = 0.052) compared to the control. Good sleepers tended toward 9% improved ratings of getting to sleep with fresh KF (p = 0.053) compared to the control. Poor sleepers had lower amounts of some B-vitamins compared to good sleepers (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Consumption of dried or fresh KF with a standard evening meal, was associated with improved aspects of sleep quality and mood, possibly mediated through changes in serotonin metabolism. Clinical trial registration: [www.anzctr.org.au], identifier [ACTRN12621000046808].Item Moe Kitenga: a qualitative study of perceptions of infant and child sleep practices among Māori whānau(SAGE Publications, 2020-06-21) George M; Theodore R; Richards R; Galland B; Taylor R; Matahaere M; Te Morenga LInsufficient sleep is a strong risk factor for unhealthy weight gain in children. Māori (the indigenous population of Aotearoa (New Zealand)) children have an increased risk of unhealthy weight gain compared to New Zealand European children. Interventions around sleep could provide an avenue for improving health and limiting excessive weight gain with other meaningful benefits for whānau (extended family) well-being. However, current messages promoting good sleep may not be realistic for many Māori whānau. Using qualitative methods, the Moe Kitenga project explored the diverse realities of sleep in 14 Māori whānau. We conclude that for infant sleep interventions to prevent obesity and improve health outcomes for Māori children, they must take into account the often pressing social circumstances of many Māori whānau that are a barrier to adopting infant sleep recommendations, otherwise sleep interventions could create yet another oppressive standard that whānau fail to live up to.Item Sleep health in later life: Interviews exploring experiences, attitudes and behaviours of older people(Cambridge University Press, 21/04/2022) Crestani F; Williams G; Breheny M; Tupara H; Cunningham C; Gander P; Gibson RSleep is vital for health and wellbeing across the lifecourse. Ethnic differences have been observed with regards to the prevalence and predictors of self-reported sleep problems. An understanding of sleep experiences with ageing and across ethnicities is required to better support older people. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 23 people living in Aotearoa/New Zealand aged 61-92 years (12 MAori and 11 non-MAori) concerning current sleep status, changes over their lifecourse and personal strategies for supporting good sleep. Participants typically expressed satisfaction with current sleep (usually pertaining to duration) or feelings that sleep was compromised (usually pertaining to waking function). Comparisons to a socially perceived 'ideal' sleep were common, with sleep transitions presented as a gradual and accepted part of ageing. Participants resisted medicalising sleep disruptions in older age. While participants were aware of ways to enhance their sleep, many acknowledged engaging in practices that undermined it. Unique insights from some MA ori participants indicated that sleep disruptions were not so readily pathologised compared to Western views and that sleeplessness could provide opportunity for cultural or spiritual connection. Common narratives underpinning the themes were: 'You don't need as much sleep when you're older', 'Sleep just fits in' and 'Having the time of my life'. Findings provide personal experiences and cultural interpretations relating to sleep and ageing. This provides the foundation for future participatory research to co-design sleep health messages which are meaningful for ageing well across ethnicities.Item The role of daylight for humans: Gaps in current knowledge(2020) Münch M; Wirz-Justice A; Brown SA; Kantermann T; Martiny K; Stefani O; Vetter C; Wright Jr KP; Wulff K; Skene DJDaylight stems solely from direct, scattered and reflected sunlight, and undergoes dynamic changes in irradiance and spectral power composition due to latitude, time of day, time of year and the nature of the physical environment (reflections, buildings and vegetation). Humans and their ancestors evolved under these natural day/night cycles over millions of years. Electric light, a relatively recent invention, interacts and competes with the natural light–dark cycle to impact human biology. What are the consequences of living in industrialised urban areas with much less daylight and more use of electric light, throughout the day (and at night), on general health and quality of life[1, 2]? In this workshop report, we have classified key gaps of knowledge in daylight research into three main groups: (I) uncertainty as to daylight quantity and quality needed for “optimal” physiological and psychological functioning, (II) lack of consensus on practical measurement and assessment methods and tools for monitoring real (day) light exposure across multiple time scales, and (III) insufficient integration and exchange of daylight knowledge bases from different disciplines. Crucial short and long-term objectives to fill these gaps are proposed.