Nadia Yusuf
Thesis Proposal
For my psychology honors thesis, I would like to evaluate the effects of sleep schedule variability on cognition, emotion and behavior in 13-year-old adolescents. The hypothesis I will test is as follows: increased variability in adolescent sleep schedule predicts negative effects on cognition, emotion and behavior, after controlling for relevant covariates. The independent variable in this study is the sleep schedule variability. Sleep schedule variability is significant variation in the time of getting into bed and attempting to sleep over the course of a regular school week. I will derive my variables from several questionnaires. For cognition, I will derive my variables from CANTAB (Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery) and WASI (Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence verbal, performance and IQ scores). For emotion, I will derive variables from the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire, which consists of thirteen items with a common response. For behavior, I will derive my variables from Connors’ Continuous Performance Test II (which objectively tests for attention, ADHD) and Connors Scale Parent. The subjects of my study will be _____(#) adolescents referred to the Sleep Study at the Brown Center for Children by the Maternal Lifestyle Study (MLS).
Dr. Kristen Stone is currently training me to take her place and assist her by collecting data for this study at the Brown Center for Children while she is on leave. The procedure is as follows. I will begin by making phone calls to arrange meetings with participants referred to the Sleep Study by the Maternal Lifestyle Study. During these meetings, I will talk with the adolescent participant and his or her family about the requirements of the eight-day study and invite the participant and family to fill out some basic paperwork and consent forms should they agree to the terms set forth. Then the participant will be given an actigraph, a relatively...