Eveningness is associated with poor sleep quality and negative affect in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Sleep Medicine
• Chronobiology

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) significantly impairs daily functioning, often accompanied by sleep disturbances and disrupted circadian rhythmicity.
• Individual differences in diurnal preferences, termed morningness-eveningness, influence sleep-wake timing and are associated with sleep problems and negative affect (NA).
• Eveningness, characterized by delayed sleep-wake timing, has been previously linked to sleep difficulties and NA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the associations between morningness-eveningness preference, sleep complaints, and symptom severity in patients with OCD.
• To compare these associations in OCD patients with a mixed psychiatric control group (unipolar depression and anxiety disorders).

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 49 OCD inpatients and 49 mixed psychiatric inpatients.
• Patients completed validated questionnaires assessing morningness-eveningness, sleep quality, nightmare frequency, depression, anxiety, and affective states.
• Obsessive and compulsive symptom severity was evaluated using clinician-rated scales in the OCD group.

Main Results:

• In OCD patients, eveningness preference correlated with impaired sleep quality and higher levels of NA.
• Impaired sleep quality was moderately correlated with anxiety and strongly with depressive symptoms and NA in OCD patients.
• Eveningness was not linked to NA in the mixed psychiatric group, and sleep quality showed weaker associations with depression and NA compared to OCD patients.
• Eveningness preference predicted poorer sleep quality in OCD patients, independent of depressive symptom severity.

Conclusions:

• Eveningness preference and sleep complaints are significant predictors of affective dysfunctions in individuals with OCD.
• These findings underscore the importance of assessing and addressing eveningness and sleep disturbances in the comprehensive evaluation and treatment of OCD.