Rebecca Cox, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado, Boulder

Topic: “Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption in internalizing disorders and implications for novel treatments”

Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption is a common feature of internalizing disorders. Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption also has adverse effects on multiple systems implicated in internalizing disorders, such as impaired cognitive control. Although historically considered an epiphenomenon, accumulating evidence suggests that sleep and circadian rhythm disruption may causally contribute to internalizing disorders and represent an opportunity for novel treatment approaches. In this talk, I will present data showing that sleep and circadian rhythm disruption characterizes internalizing disorders and predicts internalizing symptoms over time through mediating effects on cognitive control. I will then present preliminary data from an ongoing pilot randomized controlled trial of light therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder suggesting that treating sleep and circadian rhythm disruption may improve internalizing symptoms.  

Dr. Rebecca Cox completed her PhD in clinical psychology at Vanderbilt University, where she studied sleep disruption in anxiety-related disorders. She completed her clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she received advanced training in behavioral sleep and circadian medicine and behavioral treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studies the role of sleep and circadian rhythm disruption in internalizing disorders.