Sufficient sleep attenuates COVID-19 pandemic-related executive dysfunction in late adolescents and young adults

To investigate the interaction between (1) sleep and the COVID-19 pandemic; and (2) social cumulative risk and COVID-19 pandemic on executive function (EF).

Forty late adolescents/young adults (19.25 ± 1.12 y.o.) completed sleep questionnaires and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function- Adults (BRIEF-A) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, yielding 80 observations for data analysis. Multilevel random-effects models with interaction terms were used to estimate the associations.

Compared to pre-pandemic sleep, participants slept 24 min longer (t = -2.07, p = 0.03) and also had increased sleep latency (t = -1.83, p = 0.07) during COVID-19. Mid-sleep times shifted 40 min later (t = -3.22, p = 0.003), and BRIEF-A scores increased (indicating greater dysfunction), during the pandemic (p < 0.05). The worsening in EF during the pandemic was attenuated by increasing sleep duration (B = -4.38, p = 0.04) and magnified by social cumulative risk (B = 3.19, p = 0.04). Poor sleep quality was independently associated with increase in EF problems (p < 0.05).

Sufficient sleep may represent a resilience factor against EF decline during this unprecedented crisis.