Sleep problems as mediator between stress and anxiety symptoms

Abstract

Anxiety is a very prevalent phenomenon across all cultures with a high relevance for societies regarding disability and costs. Stress is considered as a possible cause of anxiety and it can be distinguished between objective stress, like stressful life events, or subjective stress, like the stress level for certain events. Previous research demonstrated a positive relation between stress and anxiety symptoms. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of this association. Sleep problems seemed to be a possible mediator by presenting a positive relation with stress and anxiety symptoms. This study aimed at replicating the findings about the relation between stress and anxiety symptoms, as well as testing sleep problems as possible mediator of this association. An online-study with questionnaires measuring stress, sleep problems and anxiety symptoms was conducted and analysed with linear regression and mediation analyses for 289 participants. Results showed a significant relation between stressful life events and anxiety symptoms, as well as between the stress level and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, sleep problems mediated the link between stressful life events and anxiety symptoms, as well as between the stress level and anxiety symptoms. This preliminary finding about sleep problems as underlying mechanism in the link between stress and anxiety can stimulate future research for replication and this knowledge can be useful in improving psychological interventions for individuals suffering from stress induced anxiety symptoms after further consolidation of the research results