Sleep, self‐regulation, self‐control and health

There is considerable research examining the link between sleep and health-related outcomes. For example, insufficient sleep has been linked to increased psychological stress (Cruess et al., 2003) and lower self-rated health (Steptoe, Peacey, & Wardle, 2006). In addition, there is also a considerable body of research that has implicated insufficient sleep to poorer self-regulatory capacity (Altena, Van Der Werf, Strijers, & Van Someren, 2008) and cognitive functioning (Walker, 2008). This is important from a health perspective because self-regulation has been recognised as an important factor in the uptake and adherence to health-promoting behaviours such as physical activity and following a low-fat diet (Aarts, 2007; Andersson & Conley, 2008; De Ridder & De Wit, 2006; Hall & Fong, 2007) and resisting relapse in behaviours that have deleterious effects of health such as smoking and consuming alcohol above recommended limits (Hagger, Wood, Stiff, & Chatzisarantis, 2009, 2010).