The role of loneliness and positivity on adolescents’ mental health and sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed unprecedented challenges with profound repercussions on adolescents’ mental health and sleep quality. However, only a few studies have focused on the aspects potentially related to adolescents’ well-being during the pandemic. The present study aimed to understand the role of loneliness and positivity on adolescents’ mental health difficulties and sleep-related issues in the emergency period. A sample of N = 564 Italian adolescents (Mage = 15.86, SD = 1.41) participated in the survey. Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that loneliness was positively associated with mental health difficulties and sleep-related issues. In contrast, positivity was negatively related to mental health difficulties and sleep-related issues. Results also showed that gender moderated the relation between positivity and sleep latency. In detail, higher levels of positivity were associated with reduced sleep latency for females but not for males. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of studying the determinants of adolescents’ well-being during such challenging events.