Prior sleep-wake behavior predicts mental health resilience among adults in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic

Rigorous nonpharmaceutical interventions (e.g., stay-at-home orders, remote-work directives) were implemented in early 2020 for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic containment in the U.S. During this time, increased sleep duration and delayed sleep timing were reported through surveys (Leone et al., 2021) and wearable data (Rezaei and Grandner, 2021), as were elevated adverse mental health symptom (Czeisler et al., 2020). Inter-relationships between sleep and mental health have not been examined using longitudinal objective sleep-wake data, during these abruptly imposed lifestyle changes.

We examined objective sleep-wake data and surveyed mental health data collected among 4,912 U.S. adult users of a validated sleep wearable (WHOOP, Boston, Massachusetts) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparing the pre-pandemic (January 1 to March 12, 2020) and acute pandemic-onset intervals (March 13 to April 12, 2020), participants exhibited increased mean sleep duration (0.25h [95% CI = 0.237-0.270]), later sleep onset (18m [17.378-20.045]) and offset (36m [35.111-38.106]), and increased consistency of sleep timing (3.51 [3.295-3.728] out of 100); all P < 0.0001. Generally, participants with persistent sleep deficiency and low sleep consistency had higher odds of symptoms of anxiety or depression, burnout, and new or increased substance use during the pandemic. Decreases in sleep duration (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.03-1.65, P = 0.025) and sleep consistency (2.05 [1.17-3.67], P = 0.009) were associated with increased anxiety and depression symptoms during the pandemic. We suggest that sleep duration and consistency may be important predictors of risk of adverse mental health outcomes during a pandemic.

M.J. Leone, M. Sigman, D.A. Golombek. Effects of lockdown on human sleep and chronotype during the COVID-19 pandemic. Curr Biol 30 (16), R930–R931 (2020).

N. Rezaei N, M.A. Grandner. Changes in sleep duration, timing, and variability during the COVID-19 pandemic: Large-scale Fitbit data from 6 major US cities. Sleep Health 10.1016/j.sleh.2021.02.008. (2021).

M.É. Czeisler, R.I. Lane, E. Petrosky, et al., Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, June 24-30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 69 (32), 1049–1057 (2020).

Significance Statement

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound effects on health, including increased sleep duration and worsened mental health. We examined associations between (1) objective sleep-wake data before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) adverse mental health symptoms and substance use among users of a validated sleep wearable. We found that, in general, participants with persistent sleep deficiency and low sleep consistency had higher odds of symptoms of anxiety or depression, new or increased substance use, and burnout. Our findings suggest that sleep of sufficient duration and consistent timing are associated with mental health resilience, exemplified in this case by the impact of the pandemic and related abrupt lifestyle changes on adverse mental health symptoms.