Associations between neuroticism, subjective sleep quality, and depressive symptoms across the first year of college.

Objective: Examine neuroticism's impact on the relationship between depressive symptoms and sleep quality during the college transition.

Participants: First-year students (N = 302) from a southeastern university in the USA.

Methods: A longitudinal cross-lagged panel model assessed direct and indirect effects between self-reported sleep and depressed mood.

Results: Higher neuroticism was directly associated with both greater depressed mood and sleep quality. Poorer sleep quality was associated with depressive symptoms at baseline (β = 0.250, [95% CI = 0.123,0.362]) and during spring semester (β = 0.261, [95% CI = 0.126,0.383]). Baseline depressive symptoms predicted sleep quality during fall semester (β = 0.140, [95% CI = 0.031, 0.247]), and fall semester sleep quality predicted spring semester depression symptoms (β = 0.106, [95% CI = 0.007,0.201]).

Discussion: Neuroticism is an indicator of emotional distress and disrupted sleep upon college entry. Furthermore, there was evidence for both within time-point and prospective associations between sleep quality and depression symptoms albeit at different times throughout the first year of college.