752 Associations Between Sleep Neurophysiology and Personality Functioning Support Dimensionality in Mental Health

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Most psychiatric disorders in adolescence are linked to alterations in sleep behavior and neurophysiology. Similar but less pronounced changes to sleep have been reported in healthy adolescent and sub-clinical samples, suggesting that the association between sleep and mental health may lie on a continuum. The current study takes a dimensional approach to better understand the link between personality functioning as assessed using the alternative DSM-5 approach to assess personality (AMPD) and brain activity measured with the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG). Methods The current study included 26 medication free participants (10 with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 16 healthy controls; aged 14 to 17 years (mean = 15.2 (±1.1); 14 girls) recruited as part of a longitudinal study on sleep and depression. All night high-density (58 channel) sleep EEG recordings were conducted and power in the delta (0.6 to 4.6 Hz) and sigma (11 to 16 Hz) bands, corresponding to slow waves and sleep spindles respectively, was computed. Dimensions of personality were assessed using the PID-5, which consists of the five trait domains: detachment, psychoticism, antagonism, disinhibition, and negative affect. Stepwise regression analysis was performed to examine the association between PID-5 dimension and delta and sigma power. The Benjamini-Hochberg procedure was used to correct for multiple comparisons. Results Greater negative affect was associated with diminished delta power for 28 electrodes over frontal, temporal, central and parietal regions (0.03 < p < 0.04). No associations between sigma power and any of the PID-5 dimensions were found. Conclusion In a sample of adolescents with and without depression, we find associations between negative affect and delta power independent of other dimensions of personality functioning. Using a dimensional approach, our findings are in line with previous literature showing diminished delta power in those with MDD compared to healthy controls. Our findings provide neurophysiological support for the notion that personality functioning in youth is accurately conceptualized on a continuum. Support (if any) This research was supported by the Interfaculty Research Cooperation Grant “Decoding Sleep: From Neurons to Health and Mind” from the University of Bern and the Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 32003B_184943 (to L.T.).