Longitudinal Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Multidimensional Sleep Health: The SWAN Sleep Study

Area of Science:

• Women's Health
• Sleep Medicine
• Mental Health

Background:

• Depressive symptoms and sleep disturbances are common in midlife women.
• The bidirectional relationship between depression and sleep is not fully understood.
• Multidimensional sleep health offers a comprehensive view beyond unidimensional sleep measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the longitudinal association between depressive symptoms and multidimensional sleep health in midlife women.
• To determine if higher depressive symptom levels predict poorer subsequent sleep health.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 302 midlife women in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.
• Assessed depressive symptoms annually using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
• Measured multidimensional sleep health (efficiency, duration, timing, regularity, alertness, satisfaction) using actigraphy and self-report six months after the last depression assessment.

Main Results:

• Higher depressive symptoms were significantly associated with poorer overall multidimensional sleep health (p < .001).
• Specifically, increased depressive symptoms predicted lower subsequent sleep alertness (p < .0001) and satisfaction (p < .0001).

Conclusions:

• This study provides novel longitudinal evidence linking higher depressive symptoms to poorer objectively measured sleep health in midlife women.
• The findings support a strong association between depression and sleep disturbances, emphasizing the need for further research into their bidirectional relationship.