Together against Corona? The Relationship between poor Sleep Quality during COVID19 and Depressive Symptoms and Role of Perceived Social Support in University  Students

The COVID-19 pandemic and its negative consequences for psychological health are omnipresent. Increased poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms, which are knowingly interrelated, have been reported amongst the general public. From previous research we know that social support can have a protective function and diminish the negative consequences of stressful life situations, such as the pandemic. We hypothesized that poor sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to depressive symptoms. We also assumed perceived social support to moderate this association. This cross-sectional study included 3484 students with Mage= 22.1 and SD = 3.1; 73,5 percent were female; 26.5 percent were male. Three multiple regression analyses were conducted, a moderation term was added to the equation. The post hoc analysis was a subgroup analysis. A positive association between experiencing poor sleep quality during COVID-19 and depressive symptoms was found (β = .38, p < .001). Perceived...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic and its negative consequences for psychological health are omnipresent. Increased poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms, which are knowingly interrelated, have been reported amongst the general public. From previous research we know that social support can have a protective function and diminish the negative consequences of stressful life situations, such as the pandemic. We hypothesized that poor sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to depressive symptoms. We also assumed perceived social support to moderate this association. This cross-sectional study included 3484 students with Mage= 22.1 and SD = 3.1; 73,5 percent were female; 26.5 percent were male. Three multiple regression analyses were conducted, a moderation term was added to the equation. The post hoc analysis was a subgroup analysis. A positive association between experiencing poor sleep quality during COVID-19 and depressive symptoms was found (β = .38, p < .001). Perceived social support was a statistically significant moderator of poor sleep quality during COVID-19 and depressive symptoms (β = -.03, p = 025). However, only when comparing the beta value of the high social support group (β = .36, p < .001) with the medium-high social support group (β = .33, p < .001) a mitigating effect of perceived social support was identified. In conclusion, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms co-occurred. Also, the study suggested that perceived social support had a protective effect concerning both, poor sleep quality during COVID-19 and depressive symptoms, a moderating role on the association was not confirmed.Show less

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Together against Corona? The Relationship between poor Sleep Quality during COVID19 and Depressive Symptoms and Role of Perceived Social Support in University Students