Abstract
Study objectives
New theory and measurement approaches have facilitated nuanced investigation of how sleep loss impacts dimensions of affective functioning. To provide a quantitative summary of this literature, three conceptually related meta-analyses examined the effect of sleep restriction and sleep deprivation on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation across the lifespan (i.e., from early childhood to late adulthood).
Method
A total of 241 effect sizes from 64 studies were selected for inclusion, and multilevel meta-analytic techniques were used when applicable.
Results
There was a moderate, positive effect of sleep loss on negative mood (g = .45), which was stronger for studies with younger samples, as well as a large, negative effect of sleep loss on positive mood (g = -.93); type of sleep manipulation (i.e., restriction or deprivation) did not moderate either effect. After correcting for publication bias, a modest but significant negative effect emerged for the effect of sleep on emotion (g = .11); the valence of emotional stimuli did not change the direction of this effect, and type of sleep manipulation was also not a significant moderator. Finally, sleep restriction had a small, negative effect on adaptive emotion regulation (g = -.32), but no significant impact on maladaptive emotion regulation (g = .14); all studies on adaptive emotion regulation were conducted with youth samples.
Conclusions
Sleep loss compromises optimal affective functioning, though the magnitude of effects varies across components. Findings underscore the importance of sleep for healthy affective outcomes.