Daily Associations Between Sleep Satisfaction and Psychiatric Symptoms in Young Adults at Risk of Psychopathology

Abstract

In this study, we link long-term vulnerability to psychopathology to short-term dynamics between sleep satisfaction and eight daytime psychiatric symptoms. A total of 122 young adults (age: M  = 23.9 years; 43% female) from the Tracking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey cohort reported nightly sleep satisfaction and daily symptom severity for 6 months using electronic diaries. The severity of internalizing, externalizing, attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD), and autism-spectrum-disorder (ASD) problems was assessed across 15 years before the diary study. Mixed-effect models showed that lower sleep satisfaction predicted more severe next-day apathy, worry, impatience, irritability, resistance to change, and sensory sensitivity, and there were stronger effects in participants with a history of internalizing and ASD problems. Reverse associations were weaker and symptom-specific such that some daytime symptoms predicted lower next-night sleep satisfaction primarily in participants with a history of ADHD and ASD problems. These findings highlight bidirectional daily associations between sleep and mental health, particularly in individuals with enduring psychiatric vulnerability.