Introduction to My Project
Hi! I’m Elizabeth Haudrich, and my fellowship project aims to examine the day-to-day relationship between sleep restriction and attenuated positive symptoms in adolescents at clinical high-risk for psychosis.
Before diving headfirst into my project, I think it is necessary to provide a bit of context. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 77.9% of high school students reported receiving less than eight hours of sleep per school night in 2019. Sleep restriction (SR) occurs when an individual receives less than the recommended amount of sleep per 24 hours, which is less than eight hours per night for adolescents (age 13-18). The high prevalence of SR raises concern considering that SR has been linked to increased subclinical psychotic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, paranoia, cognitive disorganization) in non-clinical young adults and adolescents. However, the health consequences of SR are particularly prevalent and severe in individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis, which describes imminent risk for developing a first episode of psychosis in a short period of time and vulnerability to attenuated psychotic symptoms. These symptoms may include positive symptoms (e.g., perceptual abnormalities or unusual thinking/beliefs that others do not share), negative symptoms (e.g., reduced ability to experience pleasure, diminished motivation), and disturbances in cognitive and psychosocial functioning.
Despite the expanding awareness to the relationship between sleep deficits and attenuated psychotic symptoms, there is a lack of research that a) focuses on SR independently of other sleep-related variables in CHR populations and b) accounts for the natural fluctuations in nightly sleep. Thus, I will work with Dr. Leslie Horton and the Youth Emotions, Thoughts, and Interactions Laboratory (YETI Lab) to address the limitations in the current literature and examine the day-to-day relationship between SR and attenuated positive symptoms using the ecological momentary assessment.
I believe this project will be particularly novel in the sleep-psychosis field because – to my knowledge – this will be the first study to assess SR as the main contributor of attenuated positive symptoms and use the ecological momentary assessment to study daily sleep behaviors in CHR adolescents. Furthermore, the results of this project could subsequently inform educational and/or treatment programs targeting unhealthy sleep habits that may contribute to SR (e.g., using technology before bed, excessive ruminating) and in turn exacerbate APS in both CHR and non-clinical adolescents.
Introduction to Myself
Outside of the lab, I am a rising senior majoring in psychology and statistics. A couple fun facts about me is that I love to crochet in my free time and was a competitive dancer for more than 10 years before coming to Pitt.
After graduating from Pitt, I plan to pursue a PhD in a health-related psychology field so that I can continue conducting research and eventually become a tenured professor. Even though my current research interests involve the intersectionality between sleep and psychosis, I am more broadly interested in how social/environmental factors (e.g., social relationships, adoption, academic pressure, sleep hygiene) contribute to the development and manifestation of psychiatric disorders – particularly personality and psychotic disorders.
In order to attain these long-term goals, I have two shorter-term goals that will make me a more competitive applicant for graduate admissions. My first goal is to learn how to perform multilevel modeling, the gold standard for analyzing repeated and nested data collected via the ecological momentary assessment. Once I acquire this fundamental skill, I will be set to complete the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) – a research-oriented degree awarded by the Frederick Honors College at Pitt. The Health Sciences Research Fellowship will help me accomplish these two goals by allowing me to devote my entire summer to learning multilevel modeling and in turn advancing my BPhil project.
I am very excited to participate in the Health Sciences Research Fellowship as well as have a great summer at Pitt! See you in the next blog post!