Date of Award
Spring 6-14-2025
Document Type
Undergraduate Honors Thesis
Degree Name
B.A. in Psychology
Organizational Unit
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
First Advisor
Sarah Enos Watamura
Second Advisor
Gina Paganini
Third Advisor
Sarah Huff
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Demographic risk, Cortisol, Sleep quality, Mental health outcomes, High-risk populations
Abstract
The current work explores the interplay of physiological stress, sleep quality, and demographic risk factors in mental health outcomes among parents experiencing low income. Previous research has found that mothers experiencing low income are more vulnerable to stressors and mental health disorders (Premo et al., 2023). However, the interplay among risk factors and their impact on individual risk for mental health disorders remains poorly understood. Physiological stress was measured through bedtime levels of salivary cortisol. Poor sleep was operationalized through two variables: one measuring sleep midpoint through actigraphy and one measuring sleep quality through a self-report measure. Anxiety and depression were also defined by self-report validated measures. The demographic risk factors were measured through a composite variable including teen pregnancy, unemployment, low educational attainment and single motherhood. We found poor sleep was significantly associated with more physiological stress and symptoms of anxiety. Additionally, the composite risk variable was positively associated with symptoms of depression. We also found that poor sleep predicted worsened mental health outcomes, even after accounting for other variables. In sum, we document that stress, sleep, and demographic risk factors predict mental health outcomes among parents experiencing low income. This work underscores the importance of sleep in mental health interventions, providing implications for policy makers and clinicians to identify sleep-related issues early on in high-risk samples.
Copyright Date
5-26-2025
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Hadley Freedman
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
43 pgs
File Size
741 KB
Recommended Citation
Freedman, Hadley, "The Interplay of Physiological Stress, Sleep Quality, and Demographic Risk Factors in Mental Health Outcomes of Parents Experiencing Low Income" (2025). Restricted Access ETDs. 115.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/restrictedetd/115