Sleep-related daytime consequences mediated the neuroticism–depression link

Morning affect or sleep inertia? Comparing the constructs and their measurement

The construct of Morning Affect (MA; alertness upon awakening/time required to feel fully awake) emerged from exploratory factor analysis of morningness-eveningness questionnaires, and while it has been equated with morningness-eveningness preference it has much conceptual overlap with sleep inertia (SI; the transitional state between sleep and being fully awake). The current study compared questionnaire measures of these constructs to help clarify their inter-relationships. A volunteer sample of 453 students at an English-medium university in China completed an online survey including the Sleep Inertia Questionnaire (SIQ), the Morningness-Eveningness-Stability-Scale-improved (MESSi), with subscales for MA, Eveningness, and Distinctness (amplitude of diurnal variation), and the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ). Measures of depression, sleep quality, mindfulness, and personality were also included. Exploratory factor analysis of the SIQ, MESSi, and rMEQ items revealed seven factors: Cognitive, Emotional, and Physiological SI, Responses to SI (including one MA item), and Duration of SI (one SIQ item, 3/5 MA items, and one rMEQ item); Morningness-Eveningness (MESSi Eveningness items, plus 3/5 rMEQ items); Distinctness (3/5 MESSi items). These results suggest that Morning Affect may be better characterised as a general measure of sleep inertia, and may contribute to ongoing development/refinement of questionnaire measures of circadian functioning.

Associations between neuroticism, subjective sleep quality, and depressive symptoms across the first year of college

OBJECTIVE

Examine neuroticism's impact on the relationship between depressive symptoms and sleep quality during the college transition.

PARTICIPANTS

First-year students (N = 302) from a southeastern university in the USA.

METHODS

A longitudinal cross-lagged panel model assessed direct and indirect effects between self-reported sleep and depressed mood.

RESULTS

Higher neuroticism was directly associated with both greater depressed mood and sleep quality. Poorer sleep quality was associated with depressive symptoms at baseline (β = 0.250, [95% CI = 0.123,0.362]) and during spring semester (β = 0.261, [95% CI = 0.126,0.383]). Baseline depressive symptoms predicted sleep quality during fall semester (β = 0.140, [95% CI = 0.031, 0.247]), and fall semester sleep quality predicted spring semester depression symptoms (β = 0.106, [95% CI = 0.007,0.201]).

DISCUSSION

Neuroticism is an indicator of emotional distress and disrupted sleep upon college entry. Furthermore, there was evidence for both within time-point and prospective associations between sleep quality and depression symptoms albeit at different times throughout the first year of college.

The Relationship of Neuroticism with Sleep Quality: The Mediating Role of Emotional, Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors

BACKGROUND

Poor sleep quality is associated with a broad range of psychopathology and is a common problem among college students. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of metacognitive beliefs related to sleep, emotion regulation and a negative cognitive style related to anxiety (looming cognitive style) in the relation between neuroticism and reported sleep quality.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 343 undergraduates from three universities in Tehran (56.3% females, Mean age = 22.01 ± 2.74 years).

METHOD

Data were gathered with a questionnaire packet that included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Metacognitions Questionnaire-Insomnia (MCQ-I), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Looming Maladaptive Style Questionnaire (LMSQ) and Neuroticism subscale of NEO-PI-R.

RESULTS

Structural equation modeling analyses supported a proposed model (R² = 37%) which proposed that neuroticism both directly and indirectly linked to reported sleep quality through metacognitions related to sleep, cognitive reappraisal and looming cognitive style (χ2 = 1194.87, p < .001; CFI = 0.93, NFI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.065, GFI = 0.92, SRMR = 0.069, IFI = 0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide evidence for the impact of neuroticism on reported sleep quality through metacognitive, cognitive and emotional factors. The result suggest that special attention should be paid to these factors in the treatment and psychopathology of sleep quality.

Mild regular treadmill exercise ameliorated the detrimental effects of acute sleep deprivation on spatial memory

Vulnerable areas like the hippocampus are sensitive to insults such as sleep deprivation (SD); they are also susceptible to environmental enrichment. Much evidence is accumulating that chronic sleep deprivation causes alterations in the hippocampus that responsible for spatial memory. However, there is conflicting about the differences between acute and chronic SD results. The purpose of this study was to determine the protective effects of mild treadmill exercise on acute SD rats. Four groups were created as control, exercise, sleep deprivation, exercise + sleep deprivation. Multiple platforms method was used to induce REM sleep deprivation (RD) for 48 h. The exercise was applied fivedaysperweekforfour weeks(5 × 4). For the first and second weeks, the length of the exercise was 15 min in two sessions (5 min interval) followed by 15 min in three, 15 min in four sessions. Morris water maze (MWM) was used as a spatial memory test. Gene level was determined by using the qPCR technique. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the hippocampus was measured as an extent of peroxidative damage to lipids by using the ELISA method. 48 h RD impaired long-term spatial memory significantly. Mild, regular treadmill exercise ameliorated the detrimental effects of acute sleep deprivation on memory. There was no significant difference in MDA between groups. Hippocampal gene expression did not show any changes in all groups. Lack of correlation between memory impairment and levels of genes in the hippocampus is likely to be related to the differences in behavioral and genetic mechanisms.

The Role of Meditation in College Students' Neuroticism and Mental Health

A large number of empirical studies have found evidence that neuroticism is related to personality traits, but no one has integrated the relationship between neuroticism and mental health through meta-analysis. As a personality trait, neuroticism reflects the stable tendency of how individuals experience, feel, evaluate negative emotions and make corresponding behavioural responses. By means of meta-analysis, a preliminary dimension of neuroticism is constructed through an open questionnaire and literature review. On this basis, a preliminary neuroticism questionnaire for college students is compiled. The structural model of College Students' neuroticism questionnaire fits well, and has a high correlation with the neuroticism subscale of the simple version of Big Five Personality Questionnaire, which shows that it has a good structural validity. The positive orientation indicators of subjective well-being, life satisfaction and other mental health indicators were also selected. In addition, self-assessment indicators of physical health were selected. It was found that neuroticism was highly correlated with appeal indicators, indicating that the questionnaire of College Students' neuroticism had good validity.