The Moderating Effect of Sleep Disturbance on the Association of Stress with Impulsivity and Depressed Mood

Objective This study was performed to investigate the associations of life event stress with impulsivity, anxiety, and depressed mood as a function of the presence of a sleep disturbance.Methods In total, 214 participants (age 38.96±10.53 years; 111 females) completed self-report questionnaires, including the Life Experience Survey (LES), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Barratt’s Impulsivity Scale (BIS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The presence of a sleep disturbance was defined as a PSQI score >5.Results In total, 127 participants presented with a sleep disturbance (age 39.33±10.92 years; 64 females), whereas the remaining 87 did not (age 38.43±9.97 years; 47 females). Negative LES scores were significantly correlated with BIS (r=0.22, p=0.001), BAI (r=0.46, p< 0.001), and BDI (r=0.51, p<0.001) scores, and PSQI scores were significantly correlated with BAI (r=0.49, p<0.001) and BDI (r=0.60, p< 0.001) scores. Moderation analysis revealed statistically significant interactions between negative LES scores and the presence of a sleep disturbance on BIS (p=0.044) and BDI (p=0.014) but not on BAI (p=0.194) scores.Conclusion The findings of the present study suggest that life event stress has varying degrees of influence on mental health, especially impulsivity and depressed mood, depending on the presence or absence of a sleep disturbance.

An Individual Differences Investigation of the Relations Among Life Event Stress, Working Memory Capacity, and Mind Wandering: A Replication-Extension Study

Klein and Boals (2001, Experiments 1 and 2) found that working memory capacity correlated negatively with perceived negative life event stress and speculated the relation may be driven by thoughts produced from these experiences. Here, we sought to replicate the association between working memory capacity and perceived negative life experience and to assess potential mediators of this association such as mind wandering propensity, rumination propensity, and the sum of negatively-valenced mind wandering reports. In this preregistered replication and extension study, with data collected from three hundred and fifty-six subjects (ns differ among analyses), we found no evidence suggesting that perceived negative life stress is associated with working memory capacity. Additionally, we found evidence consistent with the claim that negatively-valenced mind wandering is uniquely detrimental to cognitive task performance, but we highlight a potential confound that may account for this association that should be addressed in future work.

An Individual Differences Investigation of the Relation between Life Event Stress And Working Memory Capacity

The effects of stress in both academic and social settings are well established. However, the effects of stress on cognitive functioning are less so. This study explored the relation between life event stress and cognitive functioning; first by attempting to replicate a negative association between life event stress and working memory capacity and then by testing if the propensity to mind wander, the emotional valence of mind wandering, or the tendency to ruminate are potential mechanisms through which life stress can affect working memory capacity. In addition, I tested if trait level mindfulness is a protective factor against the effects of life stress on working memory capacity. Negative life event stress did not correlate with working memory capacity. Mind wandering, the valance of mind wandering, rumination, and trait level mindfulness did not serve as mediators in the relationship between working memory capacity and negative life event stress. When compared to neutral and positively valanced mind wandering, negatively valanced mind wandering was not more harmful to SART reaction time. However, when compared to neutral, but not positively valanced mind wandering, negatively valanced mind wandering was more harmful to SART accuracy. Finally, no evidence was found for trait level mindfulness serving as a protective factor.