Analysis of sleep quality and its relationship with mental health among young army cadres

Abstract

Objective To explore sleep quality and related psychological factors among young army cadres to provide theoretical basis for health interventions. Method A total of 1 100 young army cadres aged 18 to 34 were assessed with Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Symptom Checklist-90(SCL-90) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale by cluster random sampling. Based on CES-C scores, cadres were divided into two groups named depression group and non-depression group; 850 sergeants were served as the control group. T test, chi-square test and multiple regressions were used in data analysis. Result Sleep problems were found in 13.5% of the cadres and 12.1% sergeants. General status of sleep quality of cadres was worse than sergeants' and norm's. Exercise less, physical disease and psychological problems were the risk factors. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that depression factors of SCL-90 had the most significantly predictive effect on sleep quality (r=0.552, Beta=0.387), followed by somatization (r=0.552, Beta=0.223), two factors could explain 32.7% of PSQI scores variation. Correlation analysis showed that depression is closely related to subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep disorder and daytime dysfunction (all r>0.3). Cadres' depression (11.11±6.62) was significantly lower than norm's (12.30±10.39) and higher than sergeants' (8.11±6.56). PSQI scores of depression group (6.05± 3.13) were significantly higher than non-depression group's (3.56 ± 2.69) and norm's (3.23 ± 3.12). Conclusion Depression is a major correlation factor of the sleep quality. Regular exercise, improvement of the physical and psychological health quality, and reducing depression are effective ways to improve sleep quality. Key words: Youth; Cadres; Sleep quality; Depression