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Why might poor sleep quality lead to depression? A role for emotion regulation

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Disordered sleep is strongly linked to future depression, but the reasons for this link are not well understood. This study tested one possibility - that poorer sleep impairs emotion regulation (ER), which over time leads to increased depressive symptoms. Our sample contained individuals with a wide range of depression symptoms (current depression, N = 54, remitted depression, N = 36, and healthy control, N = 53), who were followed clinically over six months and reassessed for changes in depressive symptom levels. As predicted, maladaptive ER mediated both cross-sectional and prospective relationships between poor sleep quality and depression symptoms. In contrast, an alternative mediator, physical activity levels, did not mediate the link between sleep quality and depression symptoms. Maladaptive ER may help explain why sleep difficulties contribute to depression symptoms; implications for interventions are discussed.

Source: Cognition & Emotion

DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2016.1247035

Authors: Kimberly O’Leary, Lauren M. Bylsma, Jonathan Rottenberg

Institutions: University of South Florida, University of Pittsburgh

Language: English

Topic: Sleep and related disorders

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health