Hamilton, Odessa S;
(2025)
Stress and sleep associations with mental health: a psychoneuroimmunology and precision medicine framework.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University of London).
Preview |
Text
Hamilton_10206909_thesis_sig_removed.pdf Download (10MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Stress has a well-documented role in mental health, but molecular mechanisms are uncertain. This thesis adopts a psychoneuroimmunological and precision medicine framework to explore likely sleep and biological pathways. Chapter 1 reviews extant literature, providing a foundation for the multidisciplinary approach detailed in Chapter 2 that uses English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data. The five following studies address different parts of the framework. Chapter 3 (STUDY1) compares compositional and contextual socioeconomic stressors in immune-neuroendocrine activity. Chapter 4 (STUDY2) explores immune-neuroendocrine patterning and its response to common stressors, considering genetic predisposition. Chapter 5 (STUDY3) tests independent, interactive, and genetic associations between stress and suboptimal sleep in latent categorisation of biological risk. Chapter 6 (STUDY4) investigates suboptimal sleep and depression directionality through polygenic predisposition. Chapter 7 (STUDY5) assesses inflammation and subclinical depression associations when experiencing pandemic-related stress. RESULTS. Stress was a key driver of immune-neuroendocrine processes in older adults. Financial factors, at the individual-level, were more salient than differences in neighbourhood deprivation. Financial stress was associated with short but not long sleep and was associated with distinct immune-neuroendocrine profiles. Suboptimal sleep was not associated with immune-neuroendocrine profiles, and it did not moderate associations. Phenotypic findings supported bidirectionality between suboptimal sleep and depression, but polygenic analyses showed a unidirectional association of short sleep on depression. Pre-pandemic inflammation increased vulnerability to subclinical depression during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS. Those with fewer socioeconomic resources are more vulnerable to biological stability, which may contribute to risk of depression. Independently of neighbourhood deprivation, financial stress emerged as a potential target for reducing short sleep and offers a promising pathway for understanding immune-neuroendocrine changes. However, there is limited evidence that stress and sleep act synergistically in biological processes. Although sleep duration is a less persuasive target for immune-neuroendocrine changes in older adults, a more direct role in depression was identified.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Stress and sleep associations with mental health: a psychoneuroimmunology and precision medicine framework |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry > Mental Health Neuroscience |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10206909 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
