Resilience and the Role of Depressed and Anxious Mood in the Relationship Between Perceived Social Isolation and Perceived Sleep Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to examine the mediating role of depressed and anxious mood in the relationship between perceived social isolation and perceived sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also aimed to investigate the moderating role of psychological resilience in this mediation.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study of adults (18+ years old) was conducted using an online, multi-language, international survey between March 31 and May 15, 2020. Simple and moderated mediation analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS, with perceived social isolation as an independent variable, change in perceived sleep quality (during vs. before the COVID-19 pandemic) as a dependent variable, depressed and anxious mood (Patient Health Questionnaire-4, PHQ-4) as a mediator, and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale, BRS) as a moderator.

RESULTS: A convenience sample of 3816 participants (2692 = female) from 94 countries (47.4% USA) met criteria for inclusion in the analyses. Results showed that depressed and anxious mood mediated the relationship between perceived social isolation and change in perceived sleep quality. This mediation was moderated by resilience; the indirect effect of perceived social isolation on change in perceived sleep quality through depressed and anxious mood decreased as the level of resilience increased (index of moderated mediation = 0.008, SE = 0.003, 95%CI [0.001; 0.014]).

CONCLUSIONS: The study findings indicate benefits of psychological resilience in buffering negative effects of perceived isolation, suggesting potential benefits of developing targeted strategies to enhance resilience during times of significant crises.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)277-285
Number of pages9
JournalInternational Journal of Behavioral Medicine
Volume28
Issue number3
Early online dateJan 7 2021
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Part of Dr. al’Absi time was supported by grants from the National Institute of Health (R01DA016351 and R01DA027232).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, International Society of Behavioral Medicine.

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • COVID-19
  • Depression
  • Resilience
  • Sleep
  • Social isolation

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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