Scientists from Auburn University report a link between daytime happiness and sleep disturbances in a study involving teenagers. The finding is described in a publication associated with Child Development, which is a respected venue for research on how young people grow and how daily experiences influence their health and behavior. The study examined how mood across a typical day relates to how teenagers sleep at night and how they perceive the quality of that sleep. This work adds to a broader understanding of how positive emotions can sometimes coincide with sleep patterns that people do not always experience as refreshing or restful. [Attribution: Auburn University, Child Development]
Three hundred twenty-three adolescents with an average age near seventeen took part in the research project. Throughout a seven-day period, researchers collected objective sleep data through wearable devices that monitored limb movements during the night. Each morning, participants provided a self-assessment of their sleep quality, while each evening they reported their mood for that day. The combination of device-based sleep metrics and subjective mood ratings allowed researchers to explore how emotional states during daylight hours align with sleep outcomes when the sun goes down. [Attribution: Auburn University, Child Development]
The results pointed to a nuanced relationship between mood and sleep in teens. On days when participants reported higher happiness during waking hours, there tended to be more signs of restlessness during sleep at night. In contrast, episodes of negative mood were linked to longer time spent in bed and patterns that could be interpreted as more restful sleep. Yet the teens were not always aware of these dynamics. When asked to rate their sleep quality, they consistently identified better rest on days following a positive mood, and lower sleep quality on days following negative moods. This divergence between objective sleep indicators and subjective sleep judgments highlights how mood experiences during daylight can color a teen’s impression of their sleep, even when objective measures tell a somewhat different story. [Attribution: Auburn University, Child Development]
Looking ahead, researchers plan to broaden the study by including teens from a wider range of ages and developmental stages. By comparing younger adolescents with older teens, the project aims to determine whether the mood-sleep relationship shifts with puberty and with changes in daily routines common to different age groups. The team also intends to investigate possible mechanisms behind these associations, such as how daytime stress, social interactions, and physical activity might influence the connection between mood and sleep. This expanded approach could help families, educators, and clinicians understand how emotional well-being throughout the day can carry over into sleep quality and overall health for adolescents. [Attribution: Auburn University, Child Development]