Longitudinal Association of Sleep Problems and Distress Tolerance During Adolescence

The mechanism by which sleep problems adversely impacts adolescent health is poorly understood. Distress tolerance-a multifactorial trait indicative of one's ability to withstand negative emotions and persist toward long-term goals-is implicated in numerous emotional psychopathologies and an important target for research and practice. We hypothesized that the adverse psychobiological effects of sleep problems could disrupt the development of distress tolerance during adolescence. This longitudinal study examined whether sleep problems predicted changes in four facets of distress tolerance during adolescence: (1) absorption-feeling attention is captured by negative emotions, (2) appraisal-experiencing distress as unacceptable, (3) regulation-engaging in behaviors to terminate distress, and (4) tolerance-low perceived ability to tolerate distress. High school students (M baseline age = 15.5 years, N = 2,309, 56.1% female), completed self-report measures of sleep problems and distress tolerance at baseline and 1-year follow-up. In linear regression models adjusting for baseline distress tolerance, sleep problems predicted poorer distress tolerance at 1-year follow-up for each distress tolerance facet (βs = -0.10 to -0.24, ps ≤ 0.02). After additionally controlling for sociodemographics and emotional psychopathology, sleep problems were associated with poorer distress tolerance for absorption (β = -0.13, p = 0.004) and appraisal (β = -0.09, p = 0.049) facets, but not regulation or tolerance (ps ≥ 0.35) facets. Interventions targeting healthy sleep habits warrant consideration for improving adolescent development of certain facets of distress tolerance, and in turn various positive health outcomes improved by distress tolerance.