With her research into teen sleep garnering media attention in recent weeks, we spoke with visiting academic Dr Serena Bauducco to learn about how her career in sleep research began by chance – but has now taken her around the world.

What is your role here at Flinders?

I’m a visiting researcher. I received an international postdoc grant in Sweden, and I chose Flinders University as my host university. My postdoc project aims at understanding the impact of technology use and online peer interactions on adolescents’ sleep.

Tell us about your research.

My research interest is sleep in adolescents, including the factors that may disturb or improve sleep, the link between sleep and mental health, and the potential of school-based interventions to promote sleep health. To this end, I have used longitudinal survey data and qualitative data both from Swedish and Australian adolescents.

I’m currently working on my postdoc project, “the Sleep, Eat and Chat Study”, which is an experimental study in the Sleep & Psychology Lab on Flinders’ main campus. For this study, we are recruiting 16-to-18-year-old girls to sleep at the lab with a friend for two nights, one week apart. Participants will have access to Netflix on both nights and to a phone to chat with each other on one night. We will observe their sleep using an actiwatch (similar to a Fitbit) and infrared cameras (live streaming). This study is unique because it focuses on the interplay between online peer interactions and sleep, and the controlled lab environment will rule out confounding variables occurring at home, such as parental influences, environmental lighting and noise.

If you’d like to find out more about this study, or have someone that might like to be involved, click here or email flinderssleepandeatstudy@outlook.com.

How did you get into this field?

After completing a Master of Psychology and Prevention Science at Örebro University in Sweden, I started my PhD journey in a large project that followed 3000 adolescents over five years to better understand risk and protective factors for the development of mental health problems. One of the project’s focus areas was sleep and that’s when I became a sleep researcher. It was only by chance that I entered the sleep area, but I’m glad I did! I’m passionate about research in this area because I believe that focusing on improving sleep has great potential to promote mental health in young people.

Who inspires you?

I find the sleep research community is very open and supportive of early career researchers such as me. There are many experienced researchers who inspire me, not only research-wise but also to promote a nurturing culture in academia.

What do you love most about your work?

I never stop learning. My favourite part of being a postdoc is being able to be creative and take chance to learn new skills. At the moment, I’m loving the opportunity to meet teenagers and hear their thoughts about sleep, social media, school and friendships.

What does a typical weekend look like?

I’d go to the pool with the kids, explore some more of Adelaide (we love the beaches, spectacular playgrounds, national parks and wildlife) and watch a movie in the evening.