OBJECTIVES

Sleep disturbance is commonly reported by people with anxiety, depressive, and personality disorders, but longitudinal studies exploring the interplay of the three with disturbed sleep have not previously been described.

METHODS

In this study, sleep disturbance was examined among 89 patients initially presenting with anxiety or depressive disorders who provided follow-up at 12- and 30-year time points in the Nottingham Study of Neurotic Disorder. Multilevel models were used to identify factors most predictive of changes in sleep quality over time.

RESULTS

There were strong associations between poor sleep and contemporaneous severity of personality disorder and the presence of other mental disorders at 12 and 30 years follow-up, but not with disorder presence at other time points. Improvements in personality disorder were associated with improvements in sleep between time points and attenuated the positive unadjusted effects of recovery from anxiety or depressive disorders to non-significance. Relapse into further episodes of mental disorder predicted poorer sleep, whereas worsening personality disorder was not predictive of significant changes when adjusting for other factors.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the complex interplay between anxiety, depressive, and personality disorders and sleep disturbance over a long follow-up period. Future research might look to examine the relationship between personality disorder and disturbed sleep with interventional studies and by integrating personality trait research.