IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v23y2026i8p969-d2000977.html

Understanding Sleep Disturbance Due to Stressors: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Muhammad Aljukhadar

    (Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Bliss Street, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon)

Abstract

Major societal stressors such as pandemics and economic crises can significantly disrupt individual well-being through altered sleep patterns. This study uses a mixed-methods approach to explore the underlying causes and consumption expressions of sleep disturbance during the COVID-19 lockdown. Based on qualitative responses from 59 participants, the findings reveal three core disturbance patterns: delayed sleep schedules, increased sleep duration, and sleep restriction. These shifts were associated with a combination of emotional arousal, cognitive overload, and disrupted routines. Two dominant types of pre-sleep thought processes—pressing and comforting—appear to influence sleep outcomes. Despite the availability of mindfulness and guided-meditation technologies, most participants did not adopt these tools, citing either skepticism or inertia. The proposed model highlights the interplay between personal traits, pre-sleep behavior, and stress responses in shaping sleep. The study offers implications for public health initiatives, suggesting that targeted and accessible interventions are needed to support sleep health during a major stressor.

Suggested Citation

  • Muhammad Aljukhadar, 2026. "Understanding Sleep Disturbance Due to Stressors: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 23(8), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:23:y:2026:i:8:p:969-:d:2000977
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/23/8/969/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/23/8/969/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:23:y:2026:i:8:p:969-:d:2000977. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.