0252 Influence of Sleep on Negative Social Judgment

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Sleep plays an important role in emotional regulation. Emotional regulation can be disrupted by psychosocial stress, including social judgment. It is not known whether sleep can regulate emotions arising from social judgment. The aim of this study is to determine if sleep can reduce emotional reactivity associated with negative social judgment. Methods On day one, subjects participated in a social judgment task (SJT) in the morning, followed by a nap or wake condition. Subjects’ physiological responses to social judgment task (skin conductance and heart rate) and mood were measured before and after the SJT, after the nap/wake condition, and once on day three. Results Mood ratings decreased after social judgment for all subjects, but increased following the nap intervention. Mood ratings improved after the 2 day delay. There were no changes in social status. Skin conductance during judgment decreased for subjects in nap condition, but not wake. After a 2 day delay, skin conductance decreased across subjects, with those in nap condition experiencing greater decrease. Heart rate response during social judgment exposure decreased only for those in nap group, with a 2 day delay showing decreased heart rate response across all subjects. Conclusion A nap directly following social judgment buffers negative response to the experience by decreasing emotional reactivity as measured by mood, skin conductance, and heart rate response. No differences were found between nappers and non-nappers on day three, suggesting that sleep benefits emotional reactivity associated with the stress of social judgment and that these benefits can happen with a nap or a night of sleep, more than a period of wake. Support University of California, Irvine.