TY - JOUR

T1 - Trait Anxiety Does Not Predict the Anxiogenic Response to Sleep Deprivation

AU - Sundelin, Tina

AU - Holding, Benjamin C.

N1 - Funding Information: This was funded by the Swedish Research Council (HS-2013-18), FORTE (Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare) (2013-01539) and the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (P13-1159:1). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Sundelin and Holding.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Sleep deprivation has in several studies been found to increase anxiety. However, the extent to which this anxiogenic effect depends on one’s underlying trait anxiety has not previously been determined. Using two separate sleep-loss experiments, the current research investigated whether trait anxiety (STAI-T) moderates the increase in state anxiety (STAI-S) following one night of total sleep loss (study 1, N = 182, age 25.3 ± 6.5, 103 women) and two nights of partial sleep restriction (study 2, N = 67, age 26.5 ± 7.4, 38 women). Both studies showed the expected anxiogenic effect of sleep loss, and a clear relationship between trait anxiety and state anxiety. However, the anxiogenic effect of sleep loss was not moderated by trait anxiety, as there was an equal impact regardless of trait anxiety level. These findings indicate that, although sleep loss is related to general anxiety as well as anxiety disorders, for a non-clinical sample the anxiogenic effect of short-term sleep loss is not affected by baseline levels of anxiety.

AB - Sleep deprivation has in several studies been found to increase anxiety. However, the extent to which this anxiogenic effect depends on one’s underlying trait anxiety has not previously been determined. Using two separate sleep-loss experiments, the current research investigated whether trait anxiety (STAI-T) moderates the increase in state anxiety (STAI-S) following one night of total sleep loss (study 1, N = 182, age 25.3 ± 6.5, 103 women) and two nights of partial sleep restriction (study 2, N = 67, age 26.5 ± 7.4, 38 women). Both studies showed the expected anxiogenic effect of sleep loss, and a clear relationship between trait anxiety and state anxiety. However, the anxiogenic effect of sleep loss was not moderated by trait anxiety, as there was an equal impact regardless of trait anxiety level. These findings indicate that, although sleep loss is related to general anxiety as well as anxiety disorders, for a non-clinical sample the anxiogenic effect of short-term sleep loss is not affected by baseline levels of anxiety.

KW - anxiety

KW - individual differences

KW - sleep loss

KW - sleep restriction

KW - STAI

U2 - 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.880641

DO - 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.880641

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35910682

AN - SCOPUS:85135174843

VL - 16

JO - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

JF - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

SN - 1662-5153

M1 - 880641

ER -