Abstract
Sleep and circadian rhythms are considered to be important determinants of mental and physical health. Epidemiological studies have established the contribution of self-reported sleep duration, sleep quality and chronotype to health outcomes. Mental health and sleep problems are more common in women and men are more likely to be evening types. Few studies have compared the relative strength of these contributions and few studies have assessed these contributions separately in men and women. Furthermore, sleep and circadian characteristics are typically assessed with a limited number of instruments and a narrow range of variables is considered, leaving the understanding of the relative contribution of different predictors somewhat fractionary. We compared sleep quality, sleep duration and chronotype as predictors for self-reported mental and physical health and psychological characteristics in 410 men and 261 women aged 18 to 30. To ascertain that results were not dependent on the use of specific instruments we used a multitude of validated instruments including the Morningness-Eveningness-Questionnaire, Munich-ChronoType-Questionnaire, Pittsburgh-Sleep-Quality-Index, British-Sleep-Survey, Karolinska-Sleep-Diary, Insomnia-Severity-Index, SF-36-Health Survey, General-Health-Questionnaire, Dutch-Eating-Behaviour-Questionnaire, Big-Five-Inventory, Behaviour-Inhibition-System-Behaviour-Activation-System, and the Positive-Affect-Negative-Affect-Schedule. Relative contributions of predictors were quantified as local effect sizes derived from multiple regression models. Across all questionnaires, sleep quality was the strongest independent predictor of health and in particular mental health and more so in women than in men. The effect of sleep duration and social jetlag was inconspicuous. A greater insight into the independent contributions of sleep quality and chronotype may aid the understanding of sleep-health interactions in women and men.
Highlights
Sleep problems are common in people with mental health disorders (Freeman et al, 2017)
While disrupted sleep was previously thought to be a consequence of mental health disorders, sleep problems are being increasingly recognised as an important element of the complex and multi-factorial causation of the symptoms and functional disability associated with psychiatric disorders (Harvey, Murray, Chandler, & Soehner, 2011)
Chronotype was significantly associated with health outcomes when measured as diurnal preference (MEQ) and self-assessed MorningenssEveningness (MCTQIam) but not when estimated by the midpoint of sleep during free-days corrected for the sleep debt accumulated during the week [MSFcorr] as measured by the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) (Tables S3a, b and c)
Summary
Sleep problems are common in people with mental health disorders (Freeman et al, 2017). Common sleep complaints relate to sleep initiation, maintenance, timing, duration and quality. Many surveys focusing on physical health outcomes have emphasized the importance of self-reported sleep duration the importance of self-reported sleep quality has not gone unnoticed (Cappuccio, D'Elia, Strazzullo, & Miller, 2010; Dijk, 2012; Gallicchio & Kalesan, 2009; Magee, Kritharides, Attia, McElduff, & Banks, 2012). Sleep duration has been assessed by a single question about habitual sleep duration (e.g. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) (Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman, & Kupfer, 1989), British Sleep Survey [BSS] (Groeger, Zijlstra, & Dijk, 2004)) and by separately assessing bedtime and wake time (PSQI, BSS and the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire [MCTQ] (Roenneberg, Wirz-Justice, & Merrow, 2003)). The Karolinska Sleep Diary (KSD) measures sleep-wake timing for the last night only but it is often used over a longer time period (Akerstedt, Hume, Minors, & Waterhouse, 1994)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
