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Scott AJ, Webb TL, Martyn-St James M, et al. Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Sleep Med Rev. 2021;60:101556doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556.
Scott, A. J., Webb, T. L., Martyn-St James, M., Rowse, G., & Weich, S. (2021). Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Sleep medicine reviews, 60101556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556
Scott, Alexander J, et al. "Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials." Sleep medicine reviews vol. 60 (2021): 101556. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556
Scott AJ, Webb TL, Martyn-St James M, Rowse G, Weich S. Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Sleep Med Rev. 2021 Dec;60:101556. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556. Epub 2021 Sep 23. PMID: 34607184.
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Sleep Med Rev. 2021 Dec;60:101556. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556. Epub 2021 Sep 23.

Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Sleep medicine reviews

Alexander J Scott, Thomas L Webb, Marrissa Martyn-St James, Georgina Rowse, Scott Weich

Affiliations

  1. Keele University, School of Psychology, Keele, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, UK.
  3. School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), The University of Sheffield, UK.
  4. Clinical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, UK.

PMID: 34607184 DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556

Abstract

The extent to which sleep is causally related to mental health is unclear. One way to test the causal link is to evaluate the extent to which interventions that improve sleep quality also improve mental health. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials that reported the effects of an intervention that improved sleep on composite mental health, as well as on seven specific mental health difficulties. 65 trials comprising 72 interventions and N = 8608 participants were included. Improving sleep led to a significant medium-sized effect on composite mental health (g+ = -0.53), depression (g+ = -0.63), anxiety (g+ = -0.51), and rumination (g+ = -0.49), as well as significant small-to-medium sized effects on stress (g+ = -0.42), and finally small significant effects on positive psychosis symptoms (g+ = -0.26). We also found a dose response relationship, in that greater improvements in sleep quality led to greater improvements in mental health. Our findings suggest that sleep is causally related to the experience of mental health difficulties. Future research might consider how interventions that improve sleep could be incorporated into mental health services, as well as the mechanisms of action that explain how sleep exerts an effect on mental health.

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Anxiety; CBTi; Causal inference; Depression; Insomnia; Mental health; Meta-analysis; Psychosis; Sleep; Stress

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