Sleep Quality and Mental Health During COVID-19 Pandemic
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated widespread disruption to daily routines, social support networks and psychological well-being, with profound consequences for sleep health. Heightened anxiety, pervasive uncertainty and prolonged confinement have contributed to an upsurge in sleep disturbances, ranging from difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep to altered sleep–wake timing. Such impairments in sleep quality have in turn been linked to elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety and fatigue, creating a bidirectional relationship in which poor sleep exacerbates mental health burden and vice versa. Across diverse populations, risk factors have emerged including female sex, excessive exposure to pandemic-related news, sedentary lifestyles and environmental stressors. Intriguingly, not all individuals respond uniformly: some with pre-existing insomnia have reported improvements under lockdown, whereas a subset of previously good sleepers has experienced newfound sleep disruption. These findings underscore the global significance of tailored interventions—spanning behavioural, environmental and digital health strategies—to foster resilience, optimise sleep hygiene and mitigate the psychological toll of pandemic stressors.
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Sleep Quality and Mental Health During COVID-19 Pandemic publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in sleep quality and mental health during covid-19 pandemic across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Insomnia: A sleep disorder characterised by persistent difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep, often leading to impaired daytime functioning.
Sleep Quality: A subjective assessment of sleep that encompasses duration, continuity, depth and restorative capacity.
Circadian Rhythm: The endogenous 24-hour cycle regulating physiological processes, including the timing of sleep and wakefulness.
Negative Affect: An emotional state marked by distress, anxiety, irritability or depressive mood that can influence both sleep and mental health.
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI): A standardised self-report instrument that assesses subjective sleep quality and disturbances over a one-month period.
References
- Effects of Covid-19 Lockdown on Mental Health and Sleep Disturbances in Italy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2020).
- Sleep quality, quality of life, fatigue, and mental health in COVID-19 post-pandemic Türkiye: a cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Public Health (2024).
- Sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic: not one size fits all. Sleep Medicine (2020).
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