Hailey Meaklim

• PhD Candidate in Psychology
• PhD Student at Monash University (Australia)

Objectives: Perfectionism is an important factor in insomnia development and maintenance. Previous studies exploring the relationship between perfectionism and insomnia have predominantly relied on self-reported sleep measures. Therefore, this study sought to assess whether actigraphy-measured sleep parameters were associated with perfectionism....

Study Objectives The study aimed to characterise insomnia symptom trajectories over 12 months during a time of stress and uncertainty, the COVID-19 pandemic. It also aimed to investigate sleep and psychological predictors of persistent insomnia symptoms. Methods This longitudinal cohort study comprised 2069 participants with and without insomnia s...

Study objectives: Despite the negative impact of poor sleep on mental health, evidence-based insomnia management guidelines have not been translated into routine mental healthcare. Here, we evaluate a state-wide knowledge translation effort to disseminate sleep and insomnia education to graduate psychology programs online using the RE-AIM (Reach,...

Study objectives: Despite the negative impact of poor sleep on mental health, evidence-based insomnia management guidelines have not been translated into routine mental healthcare. Here, we evaluate a state-wide knowledge translation effort to disseminate sleep and insomnia education to graduate psychology programs online using the RE-AIM (Reach, E...

Objectives: Despite the clear influence of poor sleep on mental health, sleep education has been neglected in psychology training programs. Here, we develop a novel behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) education workshop, the Sleep Psychology Workshop, designed for integration within graduate psychology programs. We also examined the potential efficacy...

Insomnia is a highly prevalent sleep disorder, which has negative consequences on almost all aspects of physical and psychological health. The gold-standard treatment for insomnia disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). While CBT-I is efficacious, access to this therapy is limited. Digital forms of therapy for insomnia, inclu...

Introduction Despite the clear influence of poor sleep on mental health, nearly half of trainee psychologists receive no sleep education. This limits their ability to manage common sleep disorders, such as insomnia, that adversely impact mental health. This study examined the effectiveness of an online sleep education workshop for improving trainee...

Introduction Insomnia increases risk of affective disorders. This study assessed whether individuals with insomnia symptoms at the beginning of the pandemic, either new-onset or pre-existing, were at increased vulnerability to anxiety and depressive symptoms longitudinally compared to those who continued sleeping normally. Sleep-related factors (e....

Background Insomnia is a risk factor for affective disorders. This study examined whether individuals with insomnia symptoms early in the pandemic, either pre-existing or new-onset, were more vulnerable to anxiety and depressive symptoms over time than those who maintained normal sleep. Additionally, sleep-related factors such as pre-sleep arousal...

Despite the strong links between sleep, circadian rhythms, and mental health, sleep education has been neglected in mental healthcare provider training programs. The current pilot study examined the potential efficacy and acceptability of a sleep education workshop for trainee psychologists, called the Sleep Psychology Workshop. Eleven students com...

Chronic insomnia is a debilitating condition affecting about 10-15% of the Australian adult population (The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2014; American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Appleton et al., 2022; Ohayon, 2002). It is associated with reduced quality of life, daytime impairments like fatigue, irritability and poor mood, and increased...

People with insomnia reporting poorer sleep compared to estimates obtained from objective assessments is common across both research and clinical settings. Typically, individuals report less sleep and more wakefulness across a given sleep opportunity compared to that captured via objective methods (e.g. polysomnography) [1–3]. Many different terms...

Dreaming and insomnia are important markers of distress in times of crisis. Here, we present a longitudinal, mixed‐methods study examining changes in dreaming between individuals with and without insomnia symptoms and their relationship to mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic. A global survey examining insomnia symptoms, dreams and mental hea...

Background: Stress is a common precipitant of acute insomnia; however, reducing stress during times of crisis is challenging. This study aimed to determine which modifiable factors, beyond stress, were associated with acute insomnia during a major crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants/methods: A global online survey assessed sleep/circadia...

Objectives Consumer-grade smart devices are now commonly used by the public to measure waking activity and sleep. However, the ability of these devices to accurately measure sleep in clinical populations warrants more examination. The aim of the present study was to assess the accuracy of three consumer-grade sleep monitors compared with gold stand...

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant psychological distress to many people across the globe. Poor sleep quality may be linked to poor mental health and increased suicide ideation. To contextualise the risk factors associated with self-harm or suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic, this cross-sectional study examined li...

Introduction Trainee psychologists receive limited sleep and insomnia education during postgraduate study. This study examined the delivery of a sleep psychology training workshop for postgraduate psychology students and examined changes in sleep knowledge from pre- to post-workshop. Methods A 6-hour Sleep Psychology Workshop was delivered to post...

Introduction Stress is a common precipitant of acute insomnia and likely contributed to increased reports of sleep disturbances during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many other sleep and lifestyle changes may have also precipitated acute insomnia. This study aimed to clarify which factors, beyond perceived stress, contributed to the development of...

Objective Poor sleep can significantly impact mental health. Despite this, sleep education is absent from the curriculum of many psychology training programs. The current study examined the amount of sleep education delivered within postgraduate psychology programs in Australia. It also developed a new survey tool to capture postgraduate psychology...

While the COVID-19 has dramatically altered our lifestyle and sleep practices, the links between sleep, individual characteristics, personal experiences and mental health during the pandemic require further examination. This cross-sectional, multi-methods study examined differences in language used to describe personal experiences, and mental healt...

Study objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased prevalence of insomnia and mental health symptoms globally. However, most studies to date have not examined mental health symptoms between individuals with insomnia, either pre-existing or developing post-pandemic, compared to good sleepers. This study examined differences in stress,...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-ranging consequences for general physical and mental health. Country-specific research reveals a general reduction in mental and physical well-being, due to measures undertaken to stop the spread of COVID-19 disease. However, research is yet to examine the impact of the pandemic on global psychological distress and...

Objectives To evaluate the feasibility of implementing a clinical trial protocol of the herbal seeds Ziziphus spinosa (ZS) for people with insomnia. Design and setting A randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, cross-over feasibility trial in Melbourne, Australia. Interventions After two-week run-in participants were randomized to either ZS...

Insomnia is a common major health concern, which causes significant distress and disruption in a person's life. The objective of this paper was to evaluate a 6-week version of Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Insomnia (MBTI) in a sample of people attending a sleep disorders clinic with insomnia, including those with comorbidities. Thirty participants...

Context/objective: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) develops soon after cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) at rates higher than the general population, but the mechanisms are not understood. This study aimed to determine whether OSA in SCI is associated with altered pharyngeal muscle dilatory mechanics during quiet breathing, as has been observed in t...

Background/Objectives Emerging research suggests that face-to-face group mindfulness-based therapies are an effective intervention for insomnia. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based smartphone application for improving objectively-measured sleep, self-reported sleep, insomnia severity, pre-sleep arousal and daytime moo...

Introduction Trainee psychologists receive minimal sleep education during graduate psychology training programs, despite the frequent co-occurrence of sleep disturbances in mental health conditions. This study aimed to explore graduate psychology students’ experience working with sleep disturbances and their perceived skills and confidence to asses...

Deficient sleep has been recognized as a current health crisis in Australia and New Zealand, contributing to the increased prevalence and severity of chronic diseases and mental health issues. However, all healthcare disciplines currently receive limited training in addressing deficient sleep, which is contributing to the current health crisis. Thi...

Prospective, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial of nasal decongestion in tetraplegia. Tetraplegia is complicated by severe, predominantly obstructive, sleep apnoea. First-line therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea is nasal continuous positive airway pressure, but this is poorly tolerated. High nasal resistance associated...

Objectives This study examined the feasibility of delivering an online cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia intervention (Sleep‐e) within an Australian public hospital outpatient insomnia clinic. Method This study was conducted as an open trial pilot study. Fifty‐two patients waiting for clinic treatment were invited to participate, with ten...

Purpose Referrals to sleep psychology services, even for a perceived single problem such as insomnia, can present with complex, coexistent psychiatric symptoms and comorbid disorders. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of implementing the DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure (CCSM) into a sleep psychology clinic to identif...

Introduction: The International Restless Legs Study Group (IRLSSG) has developed the IRLS (International Restless Legs Syndrome Severity Scale) and validated it as a clinician/researcher administered scale to be used when both patient and examiner are present. The IRLSSG recognized the need for a self-completing scale that can be used economically...

The aim of this study was to investigate upper airway anatomy in quadriplegics with obstructive sleep apnea. Fifty subjects were recruited from three hospitals in Australia: people with quadriplegia due to spinal cord injury and obstructive sleep apnea (n = 11), able-bodied people with obstructive sleep apnea (n = 18), and healthy, able-bodied cont...

Study objective: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is considered to be the gold standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). CPAP monitoring systems allow tracking of patient CPAP adherence and treatment efficacy, by measuring residual sleep-disordered breathing, hours of CPAP use, and mask leak etc. The American Thoracic Societ...