The Relationship Between Stress Life Events and Adolescents' Sleep Problems: A Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract In recent years, adolescent sleep problems have received increasing attention. Stressful life events have been found to be a risk factor for sleep problems, but little is known about the components that may explain or influence this association. To investigate this, present research tested whether depressive symptoms mediated the association between stressful life events and adolescents' sleep problems, as well as whether emotional regulation skills decreased this process. A sample of 513 Chinese university students (32.2% males, mean age = 19.04 years, SD = 1.21) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding stressful life events, depressive symptoms, emotional regulation and sleep problems (examined using Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Response to Stress Questionnaire). The studies included covariates such as gender, age, and socioeconomic level. Depressive symptoms were shown to partially mediated the association between stressful life events and sleep problems in structural equation models. Emotional regulation buffered the negative effects of stressful life events on depressive symptoms. The results show that promoting emotional regulation could be beneficial in preventing and intervening sleep problems related to stressful life events.