Melinda L Jackson

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Verified

Melinda verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• Ph.D.
• Associate Professor at Monash University (Australia)

Background: Home antiviral treatment (HAVT: nirmatrelvir/ritonavir [Paxlovid] and molnupiravir [Lagevrio]) for COVID-19 was approved in December 2021 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but ensuing utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic was low. Factors associated with seeking HAVT treatment have not been fully explored. Study Design: Cross...

Introduction People living with dementia frequently experience sleep disturbances, and their informal care partners are also at high risk of poor sleep. Few sleep interventions consider the unique sleep interplay and challenges within caregiver-care-recipient dyads. This study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of co-designed multim...

Objective: In Huntington’s disease (HD), cognitive symptoms, sleep fragmentation, and daily activity pattern alterations can occur up to 15 years before diagnosis in premanifest HD (Pre-HD). Whether sleep and rest–activity patterns relate to cognitive function in Pre-HD, however, remains unclear. We investigated the relationships between rest–activ...

Background Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that has been associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Potential mechanistic pathways in this relationship include hypertension and oxidative stress (the imbalance of antioxidants and reactive oxygen species incurred by hypoxemia). Recently, the role of sleep...

Background Emerging evidence suggests obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a risk factor for increased amyloid aggregation, a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease, with disrupted sleep architecture hypothesised as a potential mechanism. Moreover, sleep architecture abnormalities observed in (OSA) may explain impaired cognition. However, the relationships...

Study objectives: Insomnia, poor sleep quality and extremes of sleep duration are associated with COVID-19 infection. This study assessed whether these factors are related to Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Methods: Cross-sectional survey of a general population of 24,803 U.S. adults to determine the association of insomnia,...

Objectives Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent and have adverse health consequences for both people living with dementia and their carepartners. Despite this, they are under-addressed caregiving settings. This study aimed to explore these sleep disturbances and co-design a multimodal sleep intervention for people living with dementia and their...

Cross-sectional studies suggest that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a potential risk factor for incident COVID-19 infection, but longitudinal studies are lacking. In this study, two surveys from a large general population cohort, the COVID-19 Outbreak Public Evaluation (COPE) Initiative, undertaken 147 +/- 58 days apart were analyzed to determine...

Study Objectives: Insomnia, poor sleep quality and extremes of sleep duration are associated with COVID-19 infection. This study assessed whether these factors are related to Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Methods: Cross-sectional survey of a general population of 24,803 U.S. adults to determine the association of insomnia, poo...

Purpose of review The effect of sleep on the encoding and consolidation of emotional memory has been explored in multiple studies, however results are inconsistent. The purpose of this review is to synthesise current literature outlining the association between emotional memory and sleep, and to apply existing knowledge to a sleep disordered popula...

Objective This study assesses whether chronotype is related to COVID-19 infection and whether there is an interaction with shift work. Methods Cross-sectional survey of 19,821 U.S. adults Results COVID-19 infection occurred in 40% of participants, 32.6% morning and 17.2% evening chronotypes. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic facto...

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been linked to an increased risk of dementia. Few studies have cross-sectionally examined whether clinically-confirmed OSA is associated with a higher brain amyloid burden. Objective: This compared brain amyloid burden in individuals with untreated OSA and healthy controls, and explored associations bet...

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...

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with COVID-19 infection. Fewer investigations have assessed OSA as a possible risk for the development of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Research Question: In a general population, is OSA associated with increased odds of PASC-related symptoms and with an overall definitio...

Background Disturbed sleep is common among people living with dementia and their informal caregivers, and is associated with negative health outcomes. Dyadic, multi-modal interventions targeting caregiver and care-recipient sleep have been recommended yet remain limited. This protocol details the development of a single-arm feasibility trial of a m...

Introduction Excessive sleepiness and symptoms of depression and anxiety are highly prevalent in individuals with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of treating OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on mood and daytime sleepiness. Methods Seventy-eight participants (mean age 51.3±12.2 ye...

Introduction Emerging literature reports an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Established characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease include increased brain amyloid burden and impairment to episodic and autobiographical memory. Investigating these constructs in individuals with clinically confirme...

Introduction Sleep problems, depression, and anxiety are highly prevalent following a spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) and may worsen functional outcomes and quality of life. This scoping review examined the existing literature to understand the relationships between sleep quality, depression, and anxiety in people with SCI...

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased risk of amyloid-β (Aβ) burden, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, and cognitive decline. Objective To determine the differential impacts of hypoxemia and slow-wave sleep disruption on brain amyloid burden, and to explore the effects of hypoxemia, slow-wave sleep disruption,...

Sleep problems, depression, and anxiety are highly prevalent following a spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) and may worsen functional outcomes and quality of life. This scoping review examined the existing literature to understand the relationships between sleep quality, depression, and anxiety in people with SCI and TBI, and...

Background: In healthy people, sleep and circadian disruption are linked to cognitive deficits. People with Huntington's disease (HD), who have compromised brain function and sleep and circadian disturbances, may be even more susceptible to these cognitive effects. Objective: To conduct a comprehensive review and synthesis of the literature in H...

Augmented cognition, which refers to real-time modifications to a human–system interface to improve performance and includes dynamic task environments with automated adaptations, can serve to protect against performance impairment under challenging work conditions. However, the effectiveness of augmented cognition as a countermeasure for performanc...

Objective: This study assesses whether chronotype is related to COVID-19 infection and whether there is an interaction with shift work. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 19,821 U.S. adults Results: COVID-19 infection occurred in 40% of participants, 32.6% morning and 17.2% evening chronotypes. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic fact...

Objectives: To assess the utility of a tailored intervention program to improve continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) use and self-efficacy in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: 81 participants (mean age 52.1 ± 11.6 years; 35 females) with OSA were randomized to either a multi-dimensional intervention (PSY CPAP, n = 38...

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,...

Introduction: Driver drowsiness detection technology that assesses eye blinks is increasingly being used as a safety intervention in the transport industry. It is unclear how alcohol consumption to common legal driving limits impacts upon this technology. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05% and o...

Introduction Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a multisystem, debilitating, chronic disorder of breathing during sleep, resulting in a relatively consistent pattern of cognitive deficits. More recently, it has been argued that those cognitive deficits, especially in middle-aged patients, may be driven by cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities,...

Background: Medical comorbidities increase the risk of severe acute COVID-19 illness. Although sleep problems are common after COVID-19 infection, it is unclear whether insomnia, poor sleep quality and extremely long or short sleep increase risk of developing COVID-19 infection or hospitalization. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of a diverse sam...

Study objectives: Medical comorbidities increase the risk of severe COVID-19 infection. In some studies, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been identified as a comorbid condition that is associated with an increased prevalence of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization, but few have investigated this association in a general population. This study...

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...

The seven-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) and the total score of the 14-item HADS (HADS-T) are both used for major depression screening. Compared to the HADS-D, the HADS-T includes anxiety items and requires more time to complete. We compared the screening accuracy of the HADS-D and HADS-T for major depressio...

The seven-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) and the total score of the 14-item HADS (HADS-T) are both used for major depression screening. Compared to the HADS-D, the HADS-T includes anxiety items and requires more time to complete. We compared the screening accuracy of the HADS-D and HADS-T for major depressio...

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...

Background Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is estimated to occur in up to 70% of older adults. There is accumulating evidence linking OSA with increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Here, we present the protocol for a pilot multi-site randomised controlled, parallel open-label trial which will evaluate the feasibility for a full-scale tri...

The relationship between the sleep of parents and their children has primarily been studied using self‐reported measures, but data using objective sleep assessments are limited. In particular, objective assessments of sleep disturbance and night‐wakings in parents in relation to their children's night‐wakings is underexamined. This pilot study empl...

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...

Purpose of the Review To review the recent literature on mindfulness-based strategies for improving self-report and objective measures of sleep, in individuals with psychiatric disorders. Recent Findings Currently, research provides some support for the use of mindfulness-based interventions to improve sleep amongst individuals with psychiatric co...

Background: Medical comorbidities increase the risk of severe COVID-19 infection. In some studies, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been identified as a comorbid condition that is associated with an increased prevalence of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization, but few have investigated this association in a general population. Research Question:...

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...

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...

Disrupted sleep through sleep deprivation (SD) or sleep fragmentation (SF) has previously been shown to impair cognitive processing. Nevertheless, limited studies have examined the impact of disrupted sleep on the processing of emotional information. The current study aimed to use an experimental approach to generate sleep disruption and examine wh...

The uncertain, ever-changing and an ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic means that it may take some time before we can fully appreciate the negative effect of the pandemic and lockdown on our sleep and mental health. It is increasingly recognised that in the aftermath of pandemic, several persistent sleep, neuropsychiatric and physical sequelae...

This systematic review aimed to examine sleep associations in a) typically developing children and their parents, and b) children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents. Literature search was conducted on PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE and Scopus databases for articles examining sleep associations between parents and children. Thirty studies...

Objective To determine the influence of age on sleepiness-related driving performance in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Design Extended wakefulness protocol comparing simulated driving performance in younger and older individuals with OSA. Participants Fifty-two individuals with OSA (15 female) were median split into younger (≤55...

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...

Objectives Insomnia has widespread negative implications for health and well-being. Online delivery of mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia (MBTI) has not previously been evaluated. This study investigated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a digital MBTI program for improving insomnia symptoms. It was hypothesized that a 6-week digital...

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,...

Systematic review with meta-analysis. To determine the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in people with tetraplegia and to identify the characteristics associated with SDB. A systematic literature search using Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and grey literature sources was conducted using a com...

Paramedics working on a rotating shift are at an increased risk of developing chronic health issues due to continuous circadian rhythm disruption. The acute effects of shift rotation and objectively measured sleep have rarely been reported in paramedics. This study investigated the relationships between a rotating shift schedule and sleep (using ac...

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder that is associated with a range of adverse daytime sequelae, including significantly higher rates of clinical depression than is seen in the general community. Improvements in depressive symptoms occur after treatment of the primary sleep disorder, suggesting that comorbi...

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...

Objective The current study examined sleep and mood associations in parents of children with sleep disturbances across a sample of typically developing children and children with neurodevelopmental disorders. The mediating effect of children’s sleep on the relationship between parents’ sleep and mood was also assessed. The study explored difference...

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been linked to an increase risk of dementia. Few studies have cross-sectionally examined whether clinically-confirmed OSA is associated with a higher brain amyloid burden. Objective The aim of this study was to compare brain amyloid burden in individuals with untreated OSA and healthy controls, and expl...

The BDNF gene contains a polymorphism (Val66Met) that influences sleep and may be associated with more flexible adaptation to circadian misalignment. Fifteen adult men (10 Val/Val homozygotes, 5 Val/Met heterozygotes) participated in a laboratory study involving two 5 d cycles of simulated night shifts. Circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) was measured...

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...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with working- and autobiographical-memory impairments, and high rates of mood disorder. This study aimed to examine (i) behavioral responses and (ii) neural activation patterns elicited by autobiographical and working memory tasks in moderate-severe untreated OSA patients and healthy controls, and (iii) w...

Purpose Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is less prevalent among women and is associated with different symptoms and consequences to OSA in men. The reasons for these differences are unknown and difficult to tease apart in clinical populations. If OSA could be temporarily induced in healthy men and women, the causes of some of these differences could...

Paramedics face many challenges while on duty, one of which is working different types of shifts. Shift work has been linked to a number of health issues such as insomnia, depression, and anxiety. Besides shift work, Saudi paramedics, a group that has not been investigated for sleep or mental health issues previously, may be facing more demands tha...

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...

Introduction Sleep problems, such as insomnia are frequently reported in children. These sleep disturbances have either a behavioral (e.g. difficulties initiating or maintaining sleep) or clinical etiology (e.g. autism, asthma and T1 diabetes). Unlike clinical populations, outcomes in parents of children with behavioral sleep problems are underexam...

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...

Study Objectives A cognitive throughput task known as the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) (or Symbol Digit Modalities Test) has been used as an assay of general cognitive slowing during sleep deprivation. Here, the effects of total sleep deprivation (TSD) on specific cognitive processes involved in DSST performance, including visual search, s...

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sleep and mental health issues, the role of chronotype, and the relationship between these variables in Australian paramedics. Design A cross-sectional study. Settings Cross-sectional survey. Measurements Paramedics were invited to complete an online survey to assess stress, posttrauma...

Objective: Benzodiazepines impair driving ability and psychomotor function. Eyelid parameters accurately reflect drowsiness; however, the effects of benzodiazepines on these measures have not been extensively studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of benzodiazepines on eyelid parameters and evaluate their accuracy for detecti...

Increasing evidence links cognitive-decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD) to various sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). With increasing age, there are substantial differences in OSA's prevalence, associated comorbidities and phenotypic presentation. An important question for sleep and AD researchers is whether OSA's heterogene...

This study examined the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms in OSA patients, and predictors of mood disturbance in male and female patients. N = 344 consecutive OSA patients (mean age 51.6 SD 14.1 years, 176 women) completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. 42.3% of females reported significant d...

Most objective drowsiness measures have limited ability to provide continuous, accurate assessment of drowsiness state in operational settings. Spontaneous eye blink parameters are ideal for drowsiness assessment as they are objective, non-invasive, and can be recorded continuously during regular activities. Studies that have assessed the spontaneo...

Objective/background: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) experience daytime sleepiness, cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms. However, the measured prevalence of clinical depression in OSA using standardized clinical assessment is currently unclear. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of clinical depression and a...

Background: University students have high levels of poor sleep quality (SQ) and mental health, and low adherence to healthy nutrition and physical activity (PA). Objective: This study examined what clusters of self-care behaviors (SCB) were associated with SQ and mental health in Australian university students. Method: 355 Australian universit...

Objectives: Autobiographical memory dysfunction is a marker of vulnerability to depression. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) experience high rates of depression and memory impairment, and autobiographical memory impairments have been observed compared to healthy controls; however, these groups were not age-matched. This study aimed to d...

An intimate relationship exists between sleep and affective states. Disturbances in sleep are common across a spectrum of psychopathologies, and are recognised as precipitating or prodromal factors for mood disorders. Conversely, affective states can impact sleep quality and ability to fall asleep. However, one of the main limitations of this liter...

Background: Although sleep deprivation is associated with neurobehavioral impairment that may underlie significant risks to performance and safety, there is no reliable biomarker test to detect dangerous levels of impairment from sleep loss in humans. This study employs microarrays and bioinformatics analyses to explore candidate gene expression b...

Purpose: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a debilitating symptom which occurs commonly in both primary sleep and mood disorders. The prevalence of mood disorders in patients with EDS, evaluated objectively with a mean sleep latency test (MSLT), has not been reported. We hypothesize that mood disorders are highly prevalent in patients being in...

Study objectives: Poor upper airway dilator muscle function may contribute to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Sleep deprivation reduces dilator muscle responsiveness, but sleep fragmentation, which is most characteristic of OSA, has not been assessed. This study compared the effects of sleep deprivation and fragmentation on dilator muscle responsiv...

Introduction Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is more prevalent in dementia patients than in the general population, and OSA increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). AD markers, amyloid and tau, measured in cerebrospinal fluid and serum, have previously been associated with OSA measures in cognitively normal older adults, however, th...