Sleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorRae, Dale
dc.contributor.advisorRauch Laurie
dc.contributor.advisorRoden, Laura C
dc.contributor.authorCorreia, Arron Taylor Lund
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-05T13:53:29Z
dc.date.available2025-11-05T13:53:29Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.date.updated2025-11-05T13:50:00Z
dc.description.abstractIntroduction: There is a well-established bidirectional relationship between sleep and mental health. Furthermore, low socioeconomic status (SES) environments have been linked to both poorer sleep and mental health, at leastin part due to a lack of perceived safety. Specifically, individuals who feel unsafe or vulnerable in their neighbourhoods may either delay sleep in favour of remaining alert to potential threats or experience hypervigilance throughout the night. This state of hypervigilance is typically characterized by heightened sympathetic nervous system activity and reduced parasympathetic tone, which can be quantified through measures of autonomic nervous system function, such as heart rate variability. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive measure of autonomic regulation of the heart which can be divided into time and frequency domain variables. Frequency domain variables are derived from the spectral power of the electrocardiography signal and include very low, low and high frequency power measures (VLF, LF and HF power, respectively). VLF and HF power reflect sympathetic withdrawal and parasympathetic input, respectively while LF is understood to reflect a combination of sympathetic and parasympathetic input. Lower HRV has previously been linked to various mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, and has been included as a contributing factor in the hyperarousal model of insomnia.
dc.identifier.apacitationCorreia, A. T. L. (2025). <i>Sleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa</i>. (). ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Human Biology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42110en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCorreia, Arron Taylor Lund. <i>"Sleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa."</i> ., ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Human Biology, 2025. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42110en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCorreia, A.T.L. 2025. Sleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa. . ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Human Biology. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42110en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Correia, Arron Taylor Lund AB - Introduction: There is a well-established bidirectional relationship between sleep and mental health. Furthermore, low socioeconomic status (SES) environments have been linked to both poorer sleep and mental health, at leastin part due to a lack of perceived safety. Specifically, individuals who feel unsafe or vulnerable in their neighbourhoods may either delay sleep in favour of remaining alert to potential threats or experience hypervigilance throughout the night. This state of hypervigilance is typically characterized by heightened sympathetic nervous system activity and reduced parasympathetic tone, which can be quantified through measures of autonomic nervous system function, such as heart rate variability. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive measure of autonomic regulation of the heart which can be divided into time and frequency domain variables. Frequency domain variables are derived from the spectral power of the electrocardiography signal and include very low, low and high frequency power measures (VLF, LF and HF power, respectively). VLF and HF power reflect sympathetic withdrawal and parasympathetic input, respectively while LF is understood to reflect a combination of sympathetic and parasympathetic input. Lower HRV has previously been linked to various mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, and has been included as a contributing factor in the hyperarousal model of insomnia. DA - 2025 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Mental Health LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2025 T1 - Sleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa TI - Sleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42110 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/42110
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCorreia ATL. Sleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa. []. ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Human Biology, 2025 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42110en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Human Biology
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciences
dc.subjectMental Health
dc.titleSleep under stress: the complex web of fear, hypervigilance and mental health in a low socioeconomic status community in South Africa
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationlevelPhD
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