0145 Sleep as an Avoidant Emotion Regulation Strategy

Abstract Introduction Avoidance is an emotion regulation strategy involving escape from unwanted stimuli (Ottenbreit & Dobson, 2003) and is a core feature in psychiatric disorders (Pineles et al., 2015). Sleep, as a state involving unawareness of one's surroundings, may serve as avoidance but remains unstudied. Understanding sleep as avoidance can identify maladaptive coping patterns that may contribute to sleep dysregulation and maintenance of psychopathology. This preliminary investigation identifies ways young adults may use sleep to avoid. Methods 108 young (mage = 19.2, SD = 1.43), primarily White (n = 93), women (n = 57) undergraduates were asked “reasons you may go to sleep even when you are not sleepy” followed by 12 Likert scale items (0 = never to 5 = all the time). Open-ended responses reviewed for themes. Results Participants reported the following often: sick (m = 2.96, SD = 1.67), bored (m = 2.11, SD = 1.49), stress (m = 1.91, SD = 1.62), overwhelmed (m = 1.78, SD = 1.56), sad (m = 1.86, SD = 1.53), lonely (m = 1.44, SD = 1.42), anxious (m = 1.43, SD = 1.36), work or school responsibilities (m = 1.19, SD = 1.27), talking (m = 1.0, SD = 1.31). While the following were minimally endorsed: hungry (m = 0.91, SD = 1.15), thirsty (m = 0.60, SD = 1.11), and sexual arousal (m = 0.54, SD = 1.01). Themes included Preparation (n = 8; e.g. “to stay up late that night”), Recovery (n = 7; e.g. “recover from athletic related activities”), Weather, (n = 3; e.g. “weather outside”), Bad Day (n = 2; e.g. “… having a bad day so I can get to the next one”), and Passive Suicidality (n = 1; “just do not want to exist”). Conclusion Limited diversity may have lowered the likelihood of certain endorsements such as “Sleep for dinner,” a concept related to food insecurity, (Forcone, 2018). Synonymous entries to the Likert scale items suggest the need to rephrase items. Overall, undergraduates appear to use sleep to avoid, though further investigation is needed. Support (if any) Internal funding from University of Arkansas Howells Student Research Grant (Grant Number: 2110.01S)