Overnight affective dynamics and sleep characteristics as predictors of depression and its development in women.

Study objectives We examined i) differences in overnight affective inertia (carry-over of evening affect to the next morning) for positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) between individuals with past, current, and no depression; ii) how sleep duration and quality influence overnight affective inertia in these groups, and iii) whether overnight affective inertia predicts depression development. Methods We used data of 579 women from the East-Flanders Prospective Twin Survey. For aim 1 and 2, individuals with past (n=82), current (n=26), and without (lifetime) depression (n=471) at baseline were examined. For aim 3, individuals who did (n=58) and did not (n=319) develop a depressive episode at 12-month follow-up. Momentary PA and NA were assessed 10 times a day for 5 days. Sleep was assessed daily with sleep diaries. Affective inertia was operationalized as the influence of evening affect on morning affect. Linear mixed-effect models were used to test the hypotheses. Results Overnight affective inertia for NA was significantly larger in the current compared to the non-depressed group, and daytime NA inertia was larger in the past compared to the non-depressed group. Overnight NA inertia was differently associated with shorter sleep duration in both depression groups and with lower sleep quality in the current compared to the non-depressed group. Overnight affective inertia did not predict depression development at 12-month follow-up. Conclusions Current findings demonstrate the importance of studying complex affect dynamics such as overnight affective inertia in relation to depression and sleep characteristics. Replication of these findings, preferably with longer time-series, is needed.