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Studying Sleep in Family Contexts Via Actigraphy and Wearable Devices

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Family Contexts of Sleep and Health Across the Life Course

Part of the book series: National Symposium on Family Issues ((NSFI,volume 8))

Abstract

Actigraphy is a non-invasive collection technique that uses wearable accelerometers and other sensors to obtain objective sleep, wake, physical activity and contextual data in freely moving individuals. These wearable devices allow sleep and other health behavior data to be collected from participants in natural contexts, minimizing limitations of more obtrusive measurements of sleep. Validated against polysomnography, actigraphy is highly sensitive to sleep but is limited by its specificity of wake detection using current algorithms. Additional studies are needed to validate the use of actigraphy across the lifespan and in family studies. Actigraphy, when paired with other field data collection techniques such as biomarkers, can provide objective data about sleep as a predictor, mediator, and outcome. New advancements in device technology introduce opportunities to study sleep within family research, including intra-family dynamics and healthy development throughout the life course.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Orfeu M. Buxton & Nicole G. Nahmod

  2. Department of Biobehavioral Health and the Neuroscience Program, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Stephen M. Strayer

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Correspondence to Orfeu M. Buxton .

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  1. Social Science Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Susan M. McHale

  2. Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Valarie King

  3. Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Orfeu M. Buxton

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Buxton, O.M., Nahmod, N.G., Strayer, S.M. (2017). Studying Sleep in Family Contexts Via Actigraphy and Wearable Devices. In: McHale, S., King, V., Buxton, O. (eds) Family Contexts of Sleep and Health Across the Life Course. National Symposium on Family Issues, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64780-7_9

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