RESUMO
Insomnia remains the most prevalent sleep disorder worldwide, and its pathophysiology suggests an interface with circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (CRSWDs). Some epidemiological studies have linked insomnia and circadian misalignment with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are still unclear. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) has been pointed out as a crucial/key mediator that triggers cardiometabolic risk. Therefore, a critical review of the literature focused on the past ten years was conducted to highlight the relationship between insomnia, circadian misalignment and cardiometabolic risk, with particular emphasis on the inï¬uence of the ANS. Shift work, as a model of circadian misalignment, was shown to increase both cardiovascular and metabolic risk and so may integrate a proof of concept on this link. Furthermore, there is good evidence from previous studies supporting that cardiac autonomic dysfunction is indeed a possible mechanism that potentiates cardiometabolic risk in insomniacs and individuals with a misalignment of the circadian timing system (e.g., shift workers), via changes in autonomic variables. Further research is however required in order to deï¬nitively establish this interactive relationship.
RESUMO
The use of electronic media (EM) by youths has been widely described in the literature, indicating the relevance of understanding the factors that can protect against its risks. We aimed to explore the protective role of participating in extracurricular activities (ECAs) and of parental mediation in the use of EM by young people. A total of 1413 people (729 students, aged between 11 and 17 years old, and one of their parents) participated in this study. Youths who engaged in ECAs spent significantly less time per week on EM and perceived that the use of EM devices had less of a negative impact. When parents and their children presented a congruent notion of how much time youth spent on EM, parents perceived EM to have less of a negative impact on their children compared to dyads with discrepant assessments. The hierarchical regression results indicated that regardless of time spent per week on EM, engaging in ECAs was a significant predictor of perceiving a less negative impact, playing a role as a protective factor regarding the use of EM. The ubiquity of EM reinforces the importance of the focus of this study, and its results contribute to creating specific guidelines for parental education and educational policies.
