The Relationship Between Coping Strategies and Sleep Problems: The Role of Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Background: Several studies have proposed that coping strategies are a key predictor of sleep problems. Furthermore, some authors have suggested that depressive symptoms, a factor that is related to both coping strategies and sleep, may play a critical role in this relationship. However, this preliminary research has shown mixed results.

Purpose: The aim of this research was to study the relationship between coping strategies (i.e., emotion-focused and problem-focused coping) and sleep, and investigate whether this relationship is direct or mediated by depressive symptoms.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, we tested this idea in a sample of 723 participants from the Midlife in the United States 2 study (mean age = 54.22 years, age range = 25-74 years, 54.40% females, 95.1% had at least a high school education). We applied mediation analyses with bootstrapped bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals to test total, direct, and indirect effects. Coping and depression were assessed using questionnaires. Objective and subjective sleep quantity and quality were measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, sleep diaries, and actigraphy.

Results: The results show that low emotion-focused coping and high problem-focused coping are associated with lower depressive symptoms, which, in turn, are associated with better objective and subjective sleep quality. Moreover, greater use of emotion-focused coping is related to more perceived sleep time.

Conclusions: This study sheds light on the process of the development of sleep problems in people who use different coping strategies. It offers explanations for the association between emotion-focused and problem-focused coping and sleep problems, via depressive symptoms.

Keywords: Depression; Emotion-focused coping; Problem-focused coping; Sleep.