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Sleep duration, timing associated with repetitive negative thinking

People who slept for a shorter duration or went to bed later experienced more repetitive negative thinking than those who held regular sleep-wake schedules, according to study data.

Repetitive negative thinking is associated with generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder, according to the literature.

Meredith E. Coles

Meredith E. Coles, PhD, and Jacob A. Nota, PhD, MS, of the department of psychology at Binghamton University, examined disorder-specific measures of repetitive negative thinking and a transdiagnostic measure of the process as it relates to sleep among 100 undergraduates at the institution.

They found that sleeping for shorter periods of time and going to bed later were associated with more repetitive negative thinking overall among study participants.

Data indicated that when levels of repetitive negative thinking were simultaneously predicted by sleep duration and bedtimes (P<.01), both sleep duration (P=.03) and bedtimes (P<.01) were independently related to the prediction of transdiagnostic repetitive negative thinking.

“If further findings support the relation between sleep timing and repetitive negative thinking, this could one day lead to a new avenue for treatment of individuals with internalizing disorders,” Coles said in a press release. “Studying the relation between reductions in sleep duration and psychopathology has already demonstrated that focusing on sleep in the clinic also leads to reductions in symptoms of psychopathology.”

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.