Psychological factors of sleep and daytime complaints during the COVID-19 Lockdown: the role of anxiety, well-being, autonomy, and coping

Abstract

To reveal psychological (anxiety, coping with pandemic stress, autonomy) and behavioral (compliance with recommendations, monitoring information) factors associated with complaints of sleep and daytime functioning disturbances during the lockdown period in the spring of 2020. Two hundred and three adults (106 men and 97 women), aged 18 to 59 years, participated in the study. Participants filled the questionnaires 1-2 weeks after the start of the lockdown and 3-4 weeks after the first measurement. Complaints of sleep and daytime functioning difficulties during the period of self-isolation are common in 19-30% and depend not so much on the level and content of anxiety, but on its dysfunctional level that interferes with everyday activities (β=0.17-0.27, p<0.05, ΔR2=2.8-7.4%). Complaints of sleep are more often comorbid with complaints of pain (r=0.43) than with complaints of affective symptoms (r=0.33), and complaints of poor daytime functioning are more common among younger people and students (F=3.48, p<0.05, η2=0.05); 14.8-24.6% report improvement in sleep and daytime functioning during lockdown. Regardless of the presence of anxiety, more frequent monitoring of information about the coronavirus is associated with complaints of sleep (β=0.15, p<0.05, ΔR2=2.0%), while general negative emotions- with complaints of daytime functioning and affective symptoms (β=0.19-0.22, p<0.01, ΔR2=3.4-4.1%). Complaints of sleep and daytime functioning in a pandemic are more typical for people who tend to control themselves for extrinsic goals (β=0.17, p<0.05, ΔR2=2.1-2.8%).