Expressive suppression mediates the relationship between sleep quality and generalized anxiety symptomology

Bendall, Robert C A; Elton, Sophie N; Hughes, Alun T L

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent worldwide mental health disorder, resulting in high societal costs. Emotion regulation and sleep quality are associated with the development of psychopathologies including anxiety. However, it is unknown whether habitual emotion regulation strategy use can mediate the influence of sleep quality on anxiety symptomology. An opportunity sample in a healthy population completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to provide a measure of sleep quality, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire to assess habitual use of emotion regulation strategies, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale to record anxiety symptomology. Data were analysed using correlation and regression-based mediation analyses. Improved sleep quality was predictive of reduced habitual use of expressive suppression and reduced anxiety symptomology. Additionally, increased use of expressive suppression was predictive of greater anxiety symptomology. Cognitive reappraisal was not associated with sleep quality or anxiety severity. Further, novel findings using mediation analyses show that expressive suppression partially mediated the relationship between sleep quality and anxiety. Whilst longitudinal and experimental research are needed to establish causality, these findings suggest that simultaneously targeting improvements in sleep quality and the use of specific emotion regulation strategies, including expressive suppression, may improve the efficacy of interventions focussed on reducing anxiety-related symptomology.

Citation

Bendall, R. C. A., Elton, S. N., & Hughes, A. T. L. (2024). Expressive suppression mediates the relationship between sleep quality and generalized anxiety symptomology. Scientific reports, 14(1), 13575. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63939-3

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 3, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jun 12, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 12, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 17, 2024
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Print ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 13575
• Pages: 13575
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63939-3
• Keywords: Anxiety, Sleep quality, Expressive suppression, Emotion regulation, Generalized anxiety disorder, Cognitive reappraisal