Sleep Behaviors and Interpersonal Stressors in University: An Examination of Bidirectional Associations

• In Event: 3-084 - The Influence of Parental Risk Factors and Extrafamilial Stressors on Sleep from Infancy to Emerging Adulthood

Integrative Statement

Sleep is an important behavior that is critical for overall health and wellbeing but is often compromised in the process of balancing multiple demands at university. Although often thought of as a solitary behavior, sleep patterns have been linked to social functioning (e.g., social ties, interpersonal conflict, and loneliness). Given that the establishment and maintenance of positive social relationships is a key developmental task of emerging adulthood, it is worthwhile to explore the association between sleep and social wellbeing. Past studies on the social context of sleep have generally been based on current data and thus lack the ability to decipher whether poor sleep drives poor social functioning or whether poor social functioning drives poor sleep. A bidirectional association (both constructs mutually predict each other) is also possible.

The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to examine the direction of effects between daily hassles and sleep behaviors among emerging adults at university. Initially, daily hassles comprised a composite of 16 items assessing a range of daily stressors. However, results of a principal components factor analysis indicated distinct subgroups of stressors: i) Balance (4 items; e.g., “Not having enough time to get things done”); ii) Interpersonal worries (4 items; e.g., “Not having enough close friends”); iii) Future worries (4 items; e.g., “Thinking about what I’m going to do after my undergraduate degree”); and iv) Interpersonal disagreements (3 items; “Disagreements with romantic partner”). Sleep behaviors were: sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, perceived poor sleep quality, sleep medication use, week sleep duration, and weekend sleep duration.

Participants were 154 students (67.8% female; Mean age = 20.02, SD = 1.71) from a liberal arts university, who completed an online survey twice: spring semester, 2017 (between February and March) and fall semester 2017 (between October and November). Data were analyzed using an autoregressive cross-lagged model in Amos [χ2 (80) = 134.706, Comparative Fit Index = .921, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .067]. Covariates were: age, gender, family income, level of study, athlete status, diagnosis of mental illness, parent education, and chronotype.

Results indicated that shorter week sleep duration at Time 1 predicted increases in interpersonal worries (β = -.196, p = .041) and interpersonal disagreements (β = -.230, p = .016) one semester later. Shorter week sleep duration predicted subsequent increases in future-related stressors (β = -.168, p = .030). Furthermore, higher sleep disturbances at Time 1 predicted increased interpersonal worries (β = .188, p = .046) and increased interpersonal disagreements (β = .237, p = .012) at Time 2. Lastly, use of sleeping medication predicted increased future-related stressors (β = .178, p = .032) one semester later. Unexpectedly, none of the four stressors predicted subsequent changes in sleep behaviors over time.

Author

• Royette Tavernier, Wesleyan University
  Presenting Author