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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Sep;28(11):1057-1071.
doi: 10.1177/13591053231159168. Epub 2023 Mar 15.

Effects of mental contrasting on sleep and associations with stress: A randomized controlled trial

Laura I Schmidt  1 , Andreas B Neubauer  2 , Martin Stoffel  1 , Beate Ditzen  1 , Jana Schirmaier  1 , Claudia Farrenkopf  1 , Monika Sieverding  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of mental contrasting on sleep and associations with stress: A randomized controlled trial

Laura I Schmidt et al. J Health Psychol. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) has been successfully applied to improve health-related behaviors (e.g. exercise). We explored its effectiveness to improve sleep outcomes beyond effects of sleep hygiene (SH) information, and investigated associations with stress. Eighty university employees (mean age: 29.6, SD = 4.5) were randomized to either a MCII + SH or a SH-only condition. During a baseline-week and a post-intervention week, sleep duration (Fitbit Alta and self-report), sleep quality, and stress were assessed daily and saliva was collected to assess the cortisol awakening response (CAR). In total, self-reported sleep quality and duration increased, but there was no meaningful condition*week interaction for sleep parameters or CAR. Higher average stress was associated with shorter sleep duration and lower sleep quality. Within-person, days with higher stress were followed by nights with lower sleep quality. Despite overall improvements, effects of MCII were not confirmed. MCII might be less effective to improve behaviors which are less controllable.

Keywords: cortisol awakening response; mental contrasting with implementation intentions; sleep duration; sleep quality; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Procedure and flow of participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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