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Over two decades, our data document a substantial linear increase in the percentage of university students who self-reported dissatisfaction with their sleep, i.e., 24% in 1978, 53% in 1988, and 71% in 2000.

Using data collected from 9,543 university undergraduates, we noted that over three decades, the median hours of sleep reported by these students has decreased by more than one hour.

In 2000-2001 academic year the frequency distribution of hours slept per night was not significantly different from distributions of 1978-79 and 1988-89.

The self reported annual frequencies of colds were assessed for two groups of 37 students each who were either consistent or inconsistent in the use of their hands. These data indicated that the inconsistent hand use group reported significantly more colds than their consistent hand use peers.

The self-reported levels of experience to six types of dreams were compared for groups of students who classified as having either thin (n = 30) or thick (n = 86) boundaries. Consistent with predictions drawn from the literature, the thin-boundary group scored significantly higher on level of experience for each dream type than the thick-boundary group. These data provide additional validation for Hartmann's Boundary Questionnaire.

In this study, we measured the relationship between the consistency of hand use and three symptoms of insomnia, i.e., delayed sleep onset, frequent awakenings during sleep, and trouble returning to sleep after an awakening. For each of these insomnia-related symptoms, university students who were classified as inconsistent in the use of their hands (n = 30) were significantly more likely to report problems than their consistent hand-use peers (n = 30). These data were discussed both in relation to the literature on handedness classification and sleep problems and the emerging literature on consistency of hand use and health-related problems.

Responses of 289 university students to Belicki's Nightmare Distress Questionnaire and the Stress-related Health Problems Scale were used to test the hypothesis that persons who score high on nightmare distress are more likely to report psychological problems. Since relative to the Low Nightmare Distress group, the High Nightmare Distress group scored significantly higher on all seven of the sets of symptoms that are measured by the Stress-related Health Problems Scale, this hypothesis was supported.

We examined relationships between consistency of hand use and falling in groups of right-handed university undergraduates who were either consistent (n = 45) or inconsistent (n = 32) in the use of their hands. A scoring procedure developed for the Briggs-Nebes Handedness Scale permitted us to classify individuals as consistent or inconsistent in the use of their hands. The inconsistent group was 2.81 times more likely to have experienced frequent falls during the last 12-mo. period and was 1.64 times more likely to rate themselves higher on proneness to falling. These data suggest that inconsistent hand use may be a sign of a developmental inconsistency in motor coordination.

In this study, we examined the relationships between the consistency of hand use, exercise, and sports-related injuries as an indirect test of the hypothesis that the consistency of hand use is a reflection of general motor coordination. As we predicted, the consistent hand-use group (n = 23) exercised more, were more likely to follow a regular exercise schedule, and reported having experienced more sports-related accidents than their inconsistent hand-use peers (n = 23).

The responses of 116 university students were used to assess a possible relation between scores on Hartmann's Boundary Questionnaire and the Briggs-Nebes Handedness Scale. Consistent with our prediction, the mean handedness score of the students with thin boundaries was significantly skewed in the direction of mixed-handedness.

We tested the mean differences in scores on Sleep Hygiene Knowledge and on Sleep Hygiene Practices among four ethnic groups of university students (N = 963). We computed significant main effects for ethnicity for both of these variables. Primarily the results reflect that the Euro-American students scored significantly higher on both scales than each of the other three groups.

In this study of 137 university students, we examined the relationships among the five dimensions of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory and three scales that measure aspects of sleep problems. All of the Zimbardo Inventory dimensions correlated significantly with each of the sleep problem-related scales. These data suggest that concern about time, regardless of the specific nature of individuals' time perspective, and certain sleep problems are significantly related.

Distributions of students of four ethnic groups were statistically significantly different. 106 African-American students reported the lowest incidence of self-reported bruxism (9.4%), 452 Asian students the highest incidence (24.6%); 312 Euro-American and 225 Hispanic students' incidence was intermediate.

Analysis of responses of 1100 students from four ethnic groups to questions about the quantity and quality of their sleep indicated that ethnicity was modestly but significantly related.

In this study, we examined the relationship between the consistency of hand use and the self-reported incidence of accidents with injuries which required medical care in groups of university students (n = 23 for each group). To do this, we adopted a scoring procedure for the Briggs-Nebes Handedness Scale that permitted us to classify individuals as consistent or inconsistent in the use of their hands. We observed that the inconsistent group was 6.12 times more likely to have experienced accidents with injury that required medical care than the consistent group. These data have implications for the literature on handedness classification and accidents. Collectively, these limited data underscore the need to pay attention to the consistency of hand use in research on handedness, health, and longevity.

Responses of 18 smokers and 165 nonsmokers to two items which assessed experience with symptoms of bruxism were compared. Smokers were about three times more likely to experience symptoms of bruxism but not over-all stressful experience.

Response of groups of 163 right-, 22 mixed-, and 20 left-handed university students to the seven symptom subscales of a 48-item Stress-related Health Problems Scale were used to test the hypothesis that left-handedness is associated with an increased risk of stress-related health problems. Since only one of the 21 possible statistical tests computed barely reached statistical significance, there is no meaningful relationship between handedness and stress-related health problems.

On the hypothesis that sleepiness and alcohol interact to increase the risk of alcohol-related traffic fatalities, the percentages of alcohol-related fatal traffic crashes were assessed for the entire state of New Mexico for the years 1989-1992, for each of the seven days that preceded the changes to and from Daylight Savings Time and for each of the 14 days which followed the changes to and from Daylight Savings Time. Consistent with our hypothesis the percentage of alcohol-related fatal crashes increased significantly during the first seven days after these changes in Daylight Savings Time.

The associations of the incidence of snoring with ethnicity and sex were measured using self-report data collected from 1098 university undergraduates. Both the relationships were significant. The unique feature of these data is that for the first time, a significant relationship between ethnicity and snoring has been reported.

Past research has identified a positive relationship between life-event stress and football injuries, but research in other sports has yielded more ambiguous results. It seems, then, that the relation of life stress and injury may be sport-specific and that different sports must be studied separately before such a relationship is assumed. The present investigation examined the relationships among life-event stress, coping skills, social support, and injuries of male and female high school basketball players. Contrary to the hypothesis, the number of days missed due to injury was not significantly related to life-event stress. As expected, the injury measure was negatively correlated with both the coping-skills and social-support variables, but these correlations did not reach statistical significance. Recommendations for research are discussed.

To consider the relationships among Type A-B behavior, gender, and specific types of nightmares, 780 university undergraduates were tested with Glass' version of the Jenkins Activity Survey and the Spadafora and Hunt Dream Types Survey which included the critical nightmares (fantastic nightmares, posttraumatic nightmares, and night terrors). Relative to students classified as Type B, those classified as Type A were significantly more likely to report experiencing certain types of nightmares, i.e., fantastic and posttraumatic nightmares. We also observed that women reported significantly greater frequencies of all types of nightmares than men. Possible reasons for these differences were discussed.

In support of the argument that left-handedness is a marker for decreased survival fitness, in 1991 Coren and Halpern gave considerable weight to the results of their 1988 study in which right-handed baseball players were described as having lived about eight months longer than their left-handed peers. In their 1993 unsuccessful attempt to replicate this study, Fudin and colleagues cited certain difficulties with the sources of these data that led them to recommend a comprehensive third study which included only reliable data from the two current editions of the major sources of information on Major League baseball players, i.e., the 1993 editions of The Baseball Encyclopedia and Total Baseball. Following this suggestion, we measured the life spans of all baseball players, i.e., right-, left-, and mixed-handed players, for whom reliable data were available (N = 5441) and found that the relationship between handedness and longevity was not significant. Unlike Halpern and Coren we noted that right-handed players could be described as having lived about eight months less than their left-handed peers.

As a test of the hypothesis that eye color is related to reactivity, we measured the relationships between scores on the Arousal Predisposition Scale and two measures of eye color. Our data did not support this hypothesis.

In an attempt to rationalize conflicting sets of data from earlier studies, groups of Type A- and Type B-classified university students were asked to respond to a sleep habits questionnaire that included the items of the Coren Insomnia Scale. As was the case in two earlier studies, we found significant but weak evidence from the Coren scale only that Type A-scoring students experience more sleep problems than Type B scorers. We also found, as in a recent study, a sharp increase in sleep problems among all the students sampled from the frequencies reported by similar groups in 1982.

As evidence for the hypothesis on the claim of reduced longevity for left-handers, Coren in 1989 reported data which suggested that left-handers were 1.89 times more likely to report injuries which required medical attention. This left-handed group included both left- and mixed-handed individuals. To clarify the results of his study, we repeated in part Coren's study but defined handedness so that groups of right-, mixed-, and left-handed individuals were considered. In contrast to Coren's data, we found that right- and left-handers did not differ significantly in the frequency with which they reported having experienced accidents with injury and that mixed-handers reported being significantly more likely to have had an injury-accident than either right- or left-handers. These data underscore the need to consider mixed-handedness as a separate group in studies of this type.

To test the conclusion of a recent study that snoring and disturbing dreams are strongly associated, 199 university undergraduates responded to a questionnaire that assessed their level of snoring and the frequency with which they experienced fantastic nightmares. Contrary to data provided by this recent study, we did not find a significant relationship between snoring and disturbing dreams. Some possible reasons for the discrepancy between these data sets were considered.

Cigarette smoking has been associated with delayed sleep onset and diminished sleep duration, primarily on the bases of responses to one-shot questionnaires. This study used a survey format of daily diaries to observe sleep quality. 29 smokers were matched for age, ethnicity, and gender with 29 nonsmokers. Both groups recorded information on cigarette, alcohol, caffeine consumption, daily stress, and sleep quality. While the results showed that smokers were more likely to experience poor sleep than nonsmokers, these data are difficult to interpret because smokers also used significantly greater amounts of alcohol and caffeine.

Ten years ago we reported that Type A scoring students were twice as likely as their Type B peers to report sleep problems. In an exact 1992 replication of that study, no Type A-B differences in the frequency of self-reported sleep problems were observed; however, the over-all incidence of sleep problems among the 753 college students had increased substantially.

The relationship between arousability, as measured by the Arousal Predisposition Scale, and bruxism was computed for groups of 41 male and 75 female university undergraduates as a further test of the hypothesis that bruxism is a stress-linked disorder. Contrary to our prediction, arousability was not related to bruxism in men and the relationship between these variables for women was significant but relatively weak. When considered with other studies, these data provide a clearer focus for further study of the stress-bruxism hypothesis.

Changes in the consistency of self-reported sleep habits within two large samples of 763 and 782 college students were assessed for 1978 and 1992. Noteworthy changes over the 14-yr. period included significant decreases in the percentage of students who claimed stable (> or = 5-year) sleep-duration habits and the percentage reporting satisfaction with their sleep.

The self-reported incidence and severity of snoring were assessed for a group of 749 college students. Although snoring was more frequently reported by the 356 men, these data did not support the speculation that snoring is a masculine secondary sexual characteristic.

Coren's Arousal Predisposition Scale was validated against 249 college students' self-ratings of stress-related physical symptoms and an item that assessed general level of health. As we predicted, the 126 high-arousability subjects were substantially higher in mean stress-related symptoms score and lower in general health than the 123 peers low in arousability. These data suggest that the Arousal Predisposition Scale may be a useful instrument in the study of human stress.

Using several measures of sexual activity, 24 male and 30 female Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a pretreatment test and 3 posttests (immediate and Recovery Days 4 and 7) following REM sleep deprivation in a water tank. With careful controls, sexual activity was not significantly affected by the sleep treatments. Data do not support motivational hypotheses.

By collating and inspecting data from previously published studies (N=7,958), we noted that over a 20-year period, the median hours of sleep reported by college students had dropped by one hour.

Of 511 undergraduates responding to a questionnaire, 96 identified themselves as bruxers and reported more symptoms of stress than the nonbruxers. Stress may contribute etiologically to bruxism.

We compared the coping strategies of 39 short-sleepers and 33 longer-sleepers to the stresses associated with the October 17, 1989 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake using their responses to the eight scales of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Over-all, the short-sleepers scored significantly higher on this questionnaire and in general, the pattern of their responses was consistent with inferences that could be drawn from a 1972 paper by Hartmann, Baekeland, and Zwilling.

Speculation and indirect evidence have suggested a relationship between habitual sleep duration and food intake. We tested this hypothesis by asking groups of short- and longer-sleeping students to keep 21-day sleep and food-intake diaries. We found no reliable evidence that sleep habits are linked to any major dietary variables as measured in this study and concluded that the differences between our results and those of an earlier study may reflect differences in the methodologies used.

Fairly large groups of Type A and Type B college students were asked to respond to the Hassles and Uplifts Scale. The Type A students reported significantly more hassles and uplifts than their Type B peers. These data support the view that Type A people lead more intense, event-filled lives than Type B people.

To measure the relationship between habitual sleep duration and eating disorders, the responses of groups of 34 short- and 43 longer-sleeping college students to the EAT-26 Test were compared. The short-sleepers scored twice as high and were five times more likely to exhibit abnormal eating patterns than the longer-sleeping group.

As a test of the hypothesis that consistent short sleepers tend to be less reflective and more conformist in their thinking than long sleepers, the I-E scale scores of 15 short and 15 long sleepers were compared. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that to a significant degree, short sleepers view themselves as more externally regulated than long sleepers.

The relationship between REM sleep deprivation and pain threshold was measured using 36 Sprague-Dawley female rats. Relative to that of the controls, a significant lowering of threshold to painful electrical stimulation was observed during each of the post-treatment tests, i.e., immediate, and after 3- and 24-hr. recovery periods, for the animals which had been REM deprived.

Recently Leviton and Kilty reported that the birth dates of left-handed girls in elementary school display a seasonal trend which peaks in November. We report here a failure to replicate this finding for 257 male and 323 female college students. Further, we have considered the likelihood that the original finding was due to sampling error rather than speculating that environmental factors associated with the season of birth are implicated in the etiology of left-handedness, as Leviton and Kilty have stated.

31 short-sleeping college students tended to eat more small meals or snacks than 37 long sleepers, all of whom were satisfied with their sleep. This disrupted pattern of larger meals was predicted from work of Elomaa and Johansson with rats who were partially REM-sleep deprived.

As evidence for an hypothesis that pupil size plays an important role in nonverbal communication, Hess (1975) has reported that adults draw in appropriately sized pupils on his happy and angry faces task. However, he did not report a statistical test of his data. In this study, we replicated Hess' research and found congruent with his hypothesis that college students (n = 223) draw in significantly larger pupils on the happy face.

Berlyne's stimuli were presented in a stereoscope to test his hypothesis that Ss prefer the more irregular member of a pair of stimuli. 32 Ss, screened for normal acuity and phorias, were tested. Contrary to Berlyne's hypothesis and consistent with earlier stereoscopic studies, Ss tend to report more frequently the less irregular member of a pair of stimuli. These data can be explained by an information-conflict model; however, the clearest implication of this study was that experiments concerned with familiarity of stimuli should be qualified by the method.