Emotion Regulation Repertoire Moderates the Association between Sleep and Depression: A Daily Diary Study

Despite an abundant body of research examining the associations between sleep and depression, there is limited evidence on how emotion regulation (ER) may mitigate their day-to-day relationships. This study included 389 participants (14,457 observations) from the Boston College Daily Sleep and Well-Being Survey study who completed baseline measures of ER (i.e., positive reappraisal, refocusing on planning, acceptance, putting into perspective, positive refocusing) and at least 20 daily diaries reporting depression and sleep quality the previous night (e.g., awake time, sleep efficiency, and subjective difficulty with sleep) during a collective stressful life event, the COVID-19 pandemic. Using baseline positive ER measures, we developed a computational formula to capture ER repertoire, defined as using a broad range of strategies. Multilevel modeling found that next-day depression was associated with both within- and between-person sleep quality. ER repertoire moderated the between-, but not within-person associations between depression and two sleep variables (awake time and sleep efficiency). Specifically, individuals with a larger ER repertoire experienced greater affective benefits from efficient sleep and were less impacted by extended awake time the night before. These findings underscore the promise for interventions that address both sleep problems and ER repertoire to promote emotional well-being during adverse life events.