oxytocin and Sleep-Wake-Disorders

Pregnancy is a unique physiologic state whose characteristics often predispose women to new-onset sleep disturbances or exacerbations of preexisting sleep disorders. Pregnancy-related factors that can disrupt sleep include heartburn, nocturnal oxytocin secretion, nocturia, and fetal movement. Sleep disorders in pregnancy include insomnia (primary and secondary), restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy.

Topics: Female; Humans; Narcolepsy; Oxytocin; Pregnancy; Restless Legs Syndrome; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Sleep Wake Disorders

Sleep is a critical health behavior and one that is typically shared between husbands and wives or romantic partners. However, the science of sleep has traditionally conceptualized and evaluated sleep at the level of the individual. Considering the social context of sleep represents a significant shift in sleep research and also offers a critical opportunity for investigating sleep as a novel pathway linking close relationships with health. The purpose of this review is to integrate research that focuses on how sleep affects or is affected by close relationship functioning and to provide a heuristic framework for understanding the interface between close relationships, sleep, and health. Exploring the links between close relationships and sleep may contribute to our understanding of why some relationships confer health benefits, whereas others confer health risks.

Topics: Adult; Biological Clocks; Family Conflict; Female; Health; Health Behavior; Humans; Male; Marriage; Oxytocin; Sleep; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Sleep Wake Disorders; Spouses

In this report, the authors propose that underlying sex differences in the biobehavioral response to stress may contribute to the variance in prevalence of some psychiatric disorders based on sex. The authors begin with a discussion of stress physiology and review a new theory on sex differences in stress responses (ie, the "tend-and-befriend" response), which may provide a recent framework for considering sex differences in the manifestation of some psychiatric illnesses. The authors then move to a discussion of major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as examples of how sex differences in stress responses may influence the behavioral symptoms of psychiatric disorders that are more often diagnosed in one sex compared with another. The authors conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of this new perspective on treatment approaches and encourage further inquiry into the importance of sex-based differences in the behavioral manifestation of some psychiatric illnesses.

Topics: Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Aggression; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Autonomic Nervous System; Cytokines; Depressive Disorder, Major; Estrogens; Female; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Life Change Events; Male; Mental Disorders; Oxytocin; Pituitary-Adrenal System; Sex Factors; Sleep Wake Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders

Cancer survivors experience high levels of distress, associated with a host of negative psychological states, including anxiety, depression, and fear of recurrence, which often lead to sleep problems and reduction in quality of life (QOL) and well-being. As a neuropeptide hormone associated with affiliation, calmness, and well-being, oxytocin may be a useful biological measure of changes in health outcomes in cancer survivors. In this exploratory study, which comprised a subset of participants from a larger study, we evaluated (a) the feasibility and reliability of salivary oxytocin (sOT) levels in cancer survivors and (b) the effects of 2 sleep-focused mind-body interventions, mind-body bridging (MBB) and mindfulness meditation (MM), compared with a sleep hygiene education (SHE) control, on changes in sOT levels in 30 cancer survivors with self-reported sleep disturbance. Interventions were conducted in 3 sessions, once per week for 3 weeks. Saliva samples were collected at baseline, postintervention (~1 week after the last session), and at the 2-month follow-up. In this cancer survivor group, we found that intra-individual sOT levels were fairly stable across the 3 time points, of about 3 months' duration, and mean baseline sOT levels did not differ between females and males and were not correlated with age. Correlations between baseline sOT and self-report measures were weak; however, several of these relationships were in the predicted direction, in which sOT levels were negatively associated with sleep problems and depression and positively associated with cancer-related QOL and well-being. Regarding intervention effects on sOT, baseline-subtracted sOT levels were significantly larger at postintervention in the MBB group as compared with those in SHE. In this sample of cancer survivors assessed for sOT, at postintervention, greater reductions in sleep problems were noted for MBB and MM compared with that of SHE, and increases in mindfulness and self-compassion were observed in the MBB group compared with those in SHE. The findings in this exploratory study suggest that sOT may be a reliable biological measure over time that may provide insight into the effects of mind-body interventions on health outcomes in cancer survivors.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Feasibility Studies; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Meditation; Middle Aged; Mind-Body Therapies; Mindfulness; Neoplasms; Oxytocin; Prospective Studies; Quality of Life; Reproducibility of Results; Saliva; Sleep Wake Disorders; Survivors; Time Factors

First-onset or recurrence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is common after childbirth. Postpartum OCD can occur alone or in combination with other psychiatric disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders. Putative etiological mechanisms involve consideration of genetic factors, alterations in the serotonin system secondary to changes in levels of gonadal hormones, rise in oxytocin, hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis hyperactivity, and neuroinflammation. Sleep deprivation arising from a host of diverse factors is common after delivery in women with postpartum OCD. The author suggests that sleep deprivation may play a critical role in the etiology of postpartum OCD. Clinical and research implications of this hypothesis are discussed.

Topics: Adult; Anxiety Disorders; Female; Humans; Inflammation; Male; Mood Disorders; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Oxytocin; Postpartum Period; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Recurrence; Risk Factors; Serotonin; Sleep Deprivation; Sleep Wake Disorders

Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in women with HIV, and few studies examine potential protective factors that may reduce risk for sleep disturbances in this high-risk population. This study predicted that HIV-specific social support from various sources (i.e., friends, family members, and spouses), as well as oxytocin (OT), would explain sleep quality in 71 low-income minority women living with HIV. Social support from family members was associated with better sleep quality in women. For women with high OT, support from friends was associated with better sleep quality, whereas for women with low OT, support from friends was associated with poorer sleep quality. Women with low OT may not effectively interpret and utilize available support resources, which may be associated with sleep disturbances.

Topics: Adult; Family; Female; Friends; HIV Infections; Humans; Middle Aged; Minority Groups; Oxytocin; Poverty; Risk Management; Sleep Wake Disorders; Social Support; Women; Young Adult

Women with a history of sexual assault are at increased risk for sleep difficulties and depression in their first year of motherhood. Breastfeeding improves sleep parameters and lowers risk of depression for women in general. However, it is unknown whether breastfeeding is related to maternal depression, sleep quality, and maternal well-being in sexual assault survivors. We examined the association between sexual assault and several indices of sleep, depression, and maternal well-being in a large sample of sexual assault survivors in the first year postpartum. We also explored whether feeding method was related to our outcome variables for both sexually assaulted and non-assaulted women.. A sample of 6,410 mothers of infants 0-12 months old participated in the online Survey of Mothers' Sleep and Fatigue; 994 women had a history of sexual assault.. As predicted, women with a history of sexual assault had a number of sleep difficulties, increased risk of depression, and overall poorer subjective well-being than their non-assaulted counterparts. However, sexual assault survivors who were breastfeeding were at lower risk on all of the sleep and depression parameters than sexual assault survivors who were mixed or formula feeding.. Sexual assault has a pervasive negative effect on new mothers' sleep quality and risk of depression. However, these negative effects were less severe for the breastfeeding mothers than they were for the mixed- or formula-feeding mothers.

Topics: Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Adult; Austria; Breast Feeding; C-Reactive Protein; Canada; Depression, Postpartum; Female; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Infant; Infant Formula; Infant, Newborn; Male; Maternal Age; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; New Zealand; Oxytocin; Pregnancy; Risk Factors; Sex Offenses; Sleep Wake Disorders; Surveys and Questionnaires; United Kingdom; United States