Associations between Sleep, Depression, and Cognitive Performance in Adolescence

The relevance of cognitive performance during adolescence requires further studies that analyze potential associated factors. This study aimed to analyze inductive reasoning, reading comprehension, and mathematical thinking (problem-solving and number and calculation) in relation to sleep and depression in 244 students aged 12-17 years (47.6% boys and 52.4% girls). Daytime sleepiness, sleep quality, dysthymia, and euthymia (state and trait) were assessed by self-reported questionnaires. Moreover, correlations between these variables and cognitive performance, and differences depending on sociodemographic variables (sex, age, or academic year) were analyzed using non-parametric tests. Robust regression models were also conducted to evaluate the predictive role of significant variables on cognitive performance. The results showed significant bidirectional relationships between sleep- and depression-related variables, and between the latter ones and cognitive performance. Depression-trait was more related to cognitive performance than depression-state, and euthymia more than dysthymia, but neither daytime sleepiness nor sleep quality significantly correlated with it. As for sociodemographic variables, girls reported worse sleep and more depressive symptoms than boys did, and younger students reported better sleep but performed worse than the older ones. Although these findings should be further explored in forthcoming studies adding other promising variables, they highlight the importance of promoting euthymia to improve cognitive performance in adolescents.