Daily Associations Between Adolescent Sleep and Socioemotional Experiences During an Ongoing Stressor.

PURPOSE

Ongoing stress can result in sleep disturbances and daytime socioemotional difficulties. Data on how sleep and daytime socioemotional functioning may be bidirectionally related to one another in the midst of an ongoing stressor are limited, particularly during adolescence, a developmental period when risk for the onset of mental health difficulties and sleep disturbances is high.

METHODS

Participants (N = 459, ages of 13-18 years) were recruited from across the United States and completed an intake survey and one week of daily reports beginning 2 weeks after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency. Participants reported on their daily post-traumatic stress symptoms, positive and negative affect, loneliness, sleep onset difficulties, nightmares, sleep quality, and time in bed.

RESULTS

Lagged hierarchical linear models adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, medication use, medical conditions, and ongoing stressors were estimated to examine bidirectional associations between night-time sleep and next-day mental health. Poorer sleep quality and more nightmares at night predicted higher next-day negative affect, and greater daytime negative affect predicted lower sleep quality and a greater likelihood of having nightmares the following night. Poor sleep quality predicted greater next-day post-traumatic stress, which, in turn, predicted poorer sleep quality the following night and more difficulties falling asleep. Poor sleep quality and a longer time in bed also predicted greater next-day loneliness.

DISCUSSION

Overall, these findings provide insight into how sleep disturbances and socioemotional difficulties unfold during a major life stressor in an adolescent sample.