IndexIntroductionMethodExampleProcedure / MeasurementMeasureEthicsSleep diaryQuestionsResults on stress and sleep qualityStressResults on sleep duration and sleep qualitySleep quality scaleFalling asleep scaleSleepConclusionStress and disturbances in sleep duration affect quality of sleep? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Numerous research studies have been conducted on sleep quality and the factors that influence it. Sleep quality affects overall health and quality of life; To function or perform optimally the body and brain need rest. Do stress levels and sleep duration affect the quality of sleep? Objective: This article will focus on the effect of stress levels and sleep duration on sleep quality. Method: Ten participants, male and female of different age groups, were selected to participate in this research study. Results: Increased stress levels lead to decreased ratings of sleep quality. Disturbances or awakenings during sleep and the time it takes to fall back asleep decrease the sleep quality score. Conclusion: Stress levels and sleep duration influence sleep quality. Keywords: sleep quality, stress, duration, disturbance Introduction In this study I want to investigate whether stress levels and sleep duration influence sleep quality perceived by an individual. Is there a positive relationship between sleep quality and duration? Do sleep or sleep duration disorders negatively affect the quality of sleep? Can stress levels negatively contribute to sleep quality? The quality of sleep affects a person's health and overall quality of life. Sleep is essential for restoring energy and helps us retain information and perform memory tasks better. Restoration and rejuvenation of the body and mind occurs during sleep. What is the quality of sleep? According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), a group of experts has established indicators of good sleep quality. They include: sleeping more in bed, falling asleep within half an hour, waking up only once a night; the waking time after falling asleep should initially be 20 minutes. According to (Hyeryeon YI, Kyungrim, & Chol, 2006) various questionnaires were used to evaluate sleep quality, but few had all-encompassing scales which made it difficult to evaluate sleep quality at various levels. They developed the Sleep Quality Scale (SQS). They identified the following domains of sleep quality: sleep onset, sleep maintenance, sleep depth, dreams, getting up after sleep, condition after sleep, effect on daily life, quantity of sleep, and satisfaction with sleep. This scale can be used to assess sleep quality and help develop interventions for individuals with sleep problems, but further research should be conducted on the scale's discriminative abilities on levels of sleep quality. A self-report diary or diary that Reporting items related to sleep quality is essential to obtain information that can be used to clarify whether stress and sleep duration play a role in sleep quality. In this study the focus will be on the level of stress experienced before going to sleep, the duration of sleep and the quality of sleep. Method Sample Ten participants (male and female) of different age groups in Gauteng were selected and agreed to participate in this study. None ofthey have sleep disorders or neurological problems. Participants are all 19 years old or older and all are employed. Some of the female participants have children. Their occupations currently range from administrative to managerial levels. Procedure / Measurement Measure A self-report sleep diary is used to explore sleep behavior. The self-assessed sleep diary was kept for 7 days. The average score for each participant for the duration of 7 days was used for analysis. This measurement is not a standardized psychological scale and therefore the reliability and validity of the measurement are questionable. Reliability refers to the consistency of a measurement. A measurement is said to be reliable if it can produce equivalent results when used again in similar circumstances. Self-report sleep diary reliability may not be consistent over time due to changes in the individual's current situation with respect to work environment, health, stress levels, mood, and other physical factors . Validity refers to whether the measure measures or examines what it purports to measure or examine. Self-report measures may not have validity due to respondent biases or the participant's feelings at a given time. Hyyeryeon et al. (2006) pointed out very well that sleep is a private experience and is influenced by many factors such as health, food, age, gender, etc. and that the quality of sleep is perceived differently from individual to individual. Self-assessments can be influenced by the individual's perception or feelings at that specific moment, making it difficult to verify that the information or material is actually reliable and valid. Written ethical consent forms were obtained from each participant. The reason for the research was explained to them and it was confirmed that no confidential information would be passed on to third parties. All participants were informed that they could withdraw their participation at any time. They were given clear instructions verbally and in writing to ensure that they knew exactly what was expected of them and to ensure that they performed the task correctly and as precisely as possible. The average rating of the stress level for each participant during a 7- Days of the week was recorded and based on this average it was found that 70% of the participants scored 3 (quite stressful, more than usual) on the scale indicating that they had spent quite stressful days, while 30% confirmed that their days were not that stressful with a score of 2 (a little stress but not too much). The highest ratings occurred during the week and were given by participants F and G respectively. Lowest ratings were given on weekends by all participants except A, I and D. These participants appear to experience events/days stressors more frequently than other participants. Sleep diary questions. It's time I went to bedii. It's time I woke up. Number of hours of sleep slept last nightiv. Number of awakenings Total awakening time. How long did it take to fall asleep last night (scale 0 – 4)vii. Actual hours of sleep after deducting total waking time with number of awakenings. Sleep quality (scale 0 to 4) Averages for all participants during the 7 days of self-assessment. For questions I to VII a self-evaluation diary was used. Participants' stress Weekly average Time spent sleeping on average Time spent waking up on average Hours of sleep before the disturbance Number of awakenings Total time awake Fall asleep scale Hours of sleepreal Sleep quality Results on stress and sleep quality The results showed that 71% of participants (D, E, F, G, J) rated the level of stress experienced during day 3 (quite stressful, more than usually) also rated their sleep quality 3 (somewhat poor) or higher. Sleep quality ratings are rated as follows: 0 (very good)1 (fairly good)2 (average, not particularly good or bad)3 (somewhat bad)4 (very bad) High ratings on the level of stress experienced are correlated with negative ratings on sleep quality. The following graph shows that an increase in the level of stress experience leads to a decrease in the evaluation of good sleep quality. however, some participants (H, I) indicated moderate levels of stress 2 (some not too much stress) without any significant decrease in sleep quality. Factors such as duration of undisturbed sleep and total time awake, as well as the amount of time it took participants to fall asleep, could play a crucial role here. Other non-sleep-related factors might also be relevant. Participants' overall mood should be taken into account as some individuals tend to be more positive about things overall than others and may not necessarily feel that the quality of sleep they got was as poor, even though they may not have slept enough. Stress According to Medicine Net ( https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20104) stress is an emotional, physical or mental reaction to tension caused by environmental or internal factors. Stress is a highly individualized experience, meaning that one person may experience an event as stressful and react accordingly, while another individual may not experience the same event as stressful at all. Stress can be the causative factor in many medical conditions which include poor healing, high blood pressure, and diabetes, to name a few. The relationship between stress and sleep is clearly stated here as sleep helps repair and rejuvenate the body and lack of sleep due to stress can greatly affect the individual on a physical level. Sleep disturbances or changes in sleep habits are also common physical symptoms of stress. The National Sleep Foundation (https://sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/content/what-is-insomnia) defines insomnia as the inability to fall or stay asleep even if the opportunity arises. Stress causes hyperarousal which affects the balance between wakefulness and sleep which in turn can lead to insomnia. Stress increases the level of difficulty falling asleep and if an individual has difficulty sleeping and staying asleep, they may begin to perceive the quality of sleep as negative. From the study conducted it is clear that some participants feel that their sleep quality is not good and they have quite high stress levels. If we consider the duration of sleep and the number of awakenings together with the time needed to fall back asleep we can conclude that there is a relationship between stress and quality of sleep. Stress negatively affects the quality of sleep. Results on sleep duration and sleep quality In our table we used everyone's average score or rating for a 7-day period reported in the self-evaluation diary. For the analysis of sleep duration the following data are importantTime the participant went to bedTime the participant woke upActual hours of sleepNumber of awakeningsTotal time awakeScale of falling back asleepQuality of sleepResearch shows that 70% of participants (B , C, E, F, H, I, J) slept more than 7 real hours (the time.