Emotion regulation, depressive symptoms, and sleep problems in adolescents: A four-wave random-intercept cross-lagged panel model.

Abstract

Depressive symptoms and sleep problems are detrimental for adolescents, with emotion regulation related to both problems. The present study explores emotion regulation as a potential mediator of the reciprocal associations between depressive symptoms and sleep problems and examines gender differences. A total of 1,535 adolescents (47.4% girls; baseline Mage = 13.19 years) were included in this four-wave longitudinal study with 6-month intervals. We used random-intercept cross-lagged panel models to examine our research questions. The results indicated that increases in sleep problems significantly predicted more depressive symptoms 6 months later but not vice versa. Emotion regulation mediated the reciprocal associations between depressive symptoms and sleep problems. Multigroup analyses on the associations among depressive symptoms, sleep problems, and emotion regulation showed that sleep problems predicted depressive symptoms, but not vice versa, in both girls and boys. However, emotion regulation was a mediator only in girls but not boys. These findings support the critical role of sleep problems in the development of depressive symptoms, underscoring the necessity for early and targeted sleep interventions. Emotion regulation was shown to mediate the reciprocal associations between depressive symptoms and sleep problems in girls only highlighting the need for more focus on gender differences and a need for gender-sensitive intervention strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).