Daily affective experiences predict objective sleep outcomes among adolescents

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sleep Science
• Adolescent Development

Background:

• Adolescence is a critical period for sleep and emotional changes.
• Limited research explores trait and daily affect, especially negative social evaluative emotions, in relation to adolescent sleep.
• Understanding these links is crucial for adolescent well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between between- and within-person variations in daily affect and objectively-measured sleep outcomes in adolescents.
• To specifically investigate the impact of negative social evaluative emotions on adolescent sleep.
• To differentiate the effects of high-arousal versus low-arousal affective states on sleep.

Main Methods:

• Utilized hierarchical linear models to analyze data from 77 high-school students (mean age 14.37).
• Employed actigraphy (actiwatch) for objective sleep measurement (sleep hours, latency, efficiency, wake bouts).
• Collected daily diary data on affect over 3 days, controlling for demographic and lifestyle factors.

Main Results:

• Negative social evaluative emotions and high-arousal affect were linked to poorer sleep outcomes.
• Low-arousal affective experiences, such as calmness, were associated with better sleep.
• Specifically, higher negative social evaluative emotions correlated with shorter sleep hours; anxiety predicted longer wake bouts.
• Increased dysphoria was linked to longer sleep hours and shorter wake bouts; calmness improved sleep latency.

Conclusions:

• Negative social evaluative emotions and high-arousal affective states detrimentally impact adolescent sleep.
• Low-arousal positive and negative emotions may promote better sleep quality and duration.
• Findings underscore the importance of managing social-evaluative stress and arousal levels for healthy adolescent sleep patterns.