Study: Sleep restriction may amplify anger, frustration

Sleep deprivation might be the reason, which according to researchers amplifies anger and frustration. For the study, published in the journal SLEEP, the research team analysed daily diary entries from 202 college students, who tracked their sleep, daily stressors, and anger over one month. Preliminary results show that individuals reported experiencing more anger on days following less sleep than usual for them.

"The results are important because they provide strong causal evidence that sleep restriction increases anger and increases frustration over time," said study author Zlatan Krizan, a Professor at the Iowa State University in the US. "Moreover, the results from the daily diary study suggest such effects translate to everyday life, as young adults reported more anger in the afternoon on days they slept less," Krizan added.

The research team also conducted a lab experiment involving 147 community residents. Participants were randomly assigned either to maintain their regular sleep schedule or to restrict their sleep at home by about five hours across two nights. Following this manipulation, anger was assessed during exposure to irritating noise, the researchers said. The experiment found that individuals who slept well adapted to noise and reported less anger after two days.

TAGS : study, sleep restriction may amplify anger, frustration, sleep, research, study, ifairer