Sleep Disturbance During COVID-19: Correlates and Predictive Ability for Mental Health Symptomatology

Objective: Sleep disturbance is significantly associated with mental health symptomatology, but this impact is unexplored within COVID-19. The aims of this study are to: 1) examine correlates of sleep disturbance, and 2) examine the longitudinal relationship between sleep disturbance and mental health symptoms 6 months later, during COVID-19. Methods: Data were analyzed from COVID-19 Survey Canada (PI: El-Gabalawy) conducted between May-July 2020 (T1) and November-January 2021 (T2) (n = 489). We examined COVID-related baseline correlates of sleep disturbance, and the relationship between T1 sleep disturbance and T2 post-traumatic stress (PTS), health anxiety, generalized anxiety, and depression, controlling for baseline symptoms and sociodemographics. Results: Females, ages 30-49, and those with an income <$50,000, had higher prevalence of clinically significant sleep disturbance. Compared to those without, those with sleep disturbance showed a significant increase in PTS symptoms at T2 (b=11.80, 95% CI= [8.21- 15.38], p < 0.001). Conclusion: Predicting adverse implications of sleep disturbance will help clinicians target future impacts of the pandemic and future traumas. This study emphasizes the importance of screening individuals for sleep disturbance.