Elsevier

Sleep Medicine Reviews

Volume 31, February 2017, Pages 6-16
Sleep Medicine Reviews

Clinical review
Sleep and emotion regulation: An organizing, integrative review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2015.12.006Get rights and content

Summary

A growing body of research suggests that disrupted sleep is a robust risk and maintenance factor for a range of psychiatric conditions. One explanatory mechanism linking sleep and psychological health is emotion regulation. However, numerous components embedded within this construct create both conceptual and empirical challenges to the study of emotion regulation. These challenges are reflected in most sleep–emotion research by way of poor delineation of constructs and insufficient distinction among emotional processes. Most notably, a majority of research has focused on emotions generated as a consequence of inadequate sleep rather than underlying regulatory processes that may alter these experiences. The current review utilizes the process model of emotion regulation as an organizing framework for examining the impact of sleep upon various aspects of emotional experiences. Evidence is provided for maladaptive changes in emotion at multiple stages of the emotion generation and regulation process. We conclude with a call for experimental research designed to clearly explicate which points in the emotion regulation process appear most vulnerable to sleep loss as well as longitudinal studies to follow these processes in relation to the development of psychopathological conditions.

Section snippets

An overview of sleep and emotion

Sleep plays a critical role in mental health and psychosocial adjustment across the life-span. Of particular concern is that inadequate or disrupted sleep is both a common symptom of and risk factor for a range of psychiatric disorders including, most commonly, anxiety and mood disorders [1], [2]. In fact, inadequate sleep degrades several aspects of neurocognitive functioning, but its effects on psychological health are most robust [3]. Generally, sleep loss has been shown to increase the

Neurobiological underpinnings of sleep and emotion

At a neurobiological level, emotion regulation involves the interaction of subcortical brain structures of the limbic system (e.g., amygdala) that generate emotional responses to stimuli with control centers (e.g., prefrontal cortex) that regulate emotional responses and behavior [17]. Given that the brain structures and neurochemicals involved in the regulation of emotion also govern sleep [9], and nearly all affective disorders co-occur with sleep abnormalities [1], [2], an intimate

An organizing framework of emotion and emotion regulation

Arguably, one of the most fundamental distinctions when considering emotion regulation as a construct is the distinction between emotion generation and emotion regulation. Emotion generation occurs when an individual encounters an emotion-eliciting stimulus, attends to and appraises that stimulus, and then generates an emotional response (see Fig. 1). This has been referred to as the modal model of emotion regulation [21], as these features are present across many theories of emotion ∗[15], [22]

Sleep and emotion generation

A majority of findings on sleep and emotion generation derive from correlational designs and self-reported assessments of emotion. Inadequate sleep, either in duration, continuity, or quality, is routinely linked with greater negative and fewer positive emotions [27], [28]. Results are similar in both lab-based and real-world settings. For example, following a night of poor sleep, couples report and display less adaptive emotions during a lab-based dyadic discussion [29]. Among medical

Sleep and emotion regulation

Because a majority of research has focused on sleep-related emotional responses without attention to possible modulatory efforts, differentiating between specific emotional processes is beset with a range of challenges. In most studies, the extent to which assessments of emotion may at least partially capture actual regulation cannot fully be known. Still, several studies find subjective sleep problems [52] and partial sleep restriction [39] to predict emotion regulation using broad,

Extended model of emotion regulation

Gross [15] recently outlined an extended process model in which three stages of the emotion regulation cycle are described: identification of an emotion as something that should be regulated, selection of an emotion regulation strategy, and the effective implementation of that strategy. Description of the full model is beyond the scope of this review but several specific points bear mention with regard to their relevance for sleep–emotion research. First, the emotion-generative cycle requires

Critical points and suggested directions for research

Embedded within the recent proliferation of studies aimed at uncovering emotional mechanisms linking sleep and psychological risk are differing experimental designs, paradigms, and approaches aimed at addressing similar questions. The current review examined and organized available findings from this rapidly emerging body of research within the framework of Gross's process model of emotion regulation with the goal of guiding future studies. Specifically, we attempted to organize findings

Conclusions

The inability to obtain sufficient sleep can result in significant emotional consequences and place individuals at risk for a range of psychiatric disorders. Research to date indicates that sleep has a pervasive impact on emotional functioning, including deficits in emotion generation and regulation via a multitude of neurobiological, behavioral, and cognitive processes. The current review integrates a broad body of literature on sleep and emotion. Specifically, through behavioral tendencies

Conflicts of interest

The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to disclose.

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