193 Sleep Variability and Affect Dynamics Among College Students during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: Sleep disturbance is a transdiagnostic risk factor that is so prevalent among emerging adults it is considered to be a public health epidemic. For emerging adults, who are already at greater risk for psychopathology, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily routines, potentially changing sleep patterns and heightening risk factors for the emergence of affective dysregulation, and consequently moodrelated disturbances. This study aimed to determine whether variability in sleep patterns across a 3-month period was associated with next-day positive and negative affect, and affective dynamics, proximal affective predictors of depressive symptoms among young adults during the pandemic. Methods: College student participants (N=20, 65% female, Mage=19.80, SDage=1.0) wore non-invasive wearable devices (the Oura ring https://ouraring.com/) continuously for a period of 3-months, measuring sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency, total sleep, and time spent in different stages of sleep (light, deep and rapid eye movement). Participants reported daily PA and NA using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule on a 0-100 scale to report on their affective state. Results: Multilevel models specifying a within-subject process of the relation between sleep and affect revealed that participants with higher sleep onset latency (b= -2.98, p