Are personality dimensions associated with sleep length in a large nationally representative sample?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sleep Science
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Sleep duration is a critical health behavior influenced by various factors.
• The relationship between personality traits and sleep duration requires further investigation.
• Previous research has not fully explored the unique associations between specific personality domains and sleep length.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the unique associations between personality domains and specific traits with sleep duration.
• To utilize data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) for hypothesis generation.

Main Methods:

• Secondary data analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS-part II) dataset.
• Inclusion of 5877 noninstitutionalized adults residing in the United States.
• Utilized the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) for psychiatric diagnoses and self-report measures for personality and sleep.

Main Results:

• Short sleep (< or = 6 hours) was positively associated with self-criticism (OR=1.36), medical conditions (OR=1.35), neuroticism (OR=1.30), and sedating medication use (OR=1.26).
• Long sleep (> or = 9 hours) was positively associated with dysthymia diagnosis (OR=1.52), sedating medication use (OR=1.52), emotional reliance (OR=1.37), employment status (OR=1.31), and marital status (OR=1.20).
• Multivariate logistic regression was employed to identify significant associations.

Conclusions:

• Personality traits demonstrate significant associations with both short and long sleep durations.
• These associations persist even after controlling for psychiatric and medical conditions.
• Personality may serve as an important factor in the clinical assessment of sleep patterns.