Certain behavioral effects of not getting enough sleep may explain why people who have insomnia are at risk for problems with alcohol.
A study of college students, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that sleep problems may increase negative mood and worsen impulse control, factors which, in turn, lead to more problems with alcohol.[1]
The findings may inform treatment for college students, a group particularly at risk for drinking and sleep problems.
Poor sleep has been shown to be a strong predictor of alcohol-related issues in young adults.
The current study aimed to investigate the emotional and cognitive mechanisms that may underlie this relationship.
Researchers assessed five thousand students from ten U.S. universities for insomnia and sleep problems, alcohol use and related issues, social anxiety, depression, anxiety, stress, and ‘effortful control,’ that is, their ability to regulate their emotions, thoughts, and behavior.
Forty-six percent of the students in the study reported some symptoms of insomnia, with one in seven students reporting symptoms indicative of moderate or severe clinical insomnia. Students who reported insomnia symptoms were more likely to have problems with alcohol. When controlling for negative mood and effortful control, however, sleep problems were not significantly correlated with alcohol problems.
Poor sleep was associated with more negative emotions, and higher ratings of negative emotions were associated with more alcohol problems. Insomnia symptoms were also associated with lower effortful control, while students who were able to regulate their emotions and impulses were less likely to have insomnia symptoms and alcohol problems.
This study’s findings suggest that insomnia may increase negative feelings, such as stress, anxiety, or depression, and decrease the ability to regulate thoughts and behaviors, which may contribute to more drinking and drinking-related problems.
Prior studies have shown that sleep deprivation causes heightened responses in the brain’s amygdala to negative emotional stimuli while decreasing engagement of the prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotions and behaviors.
Such deficits in these areas of the brain have been associated with the development of alcohol use disorder.
Causation cannot be inferred from the study’s findings of indirect effects between sleep and alcohol problems.
The authors note there may be a cyclic relationship between sleep, negative emotionality, and alcohol use, where sleep deprivation increases negative emotions, leading to increased drinking, which in turn leads to increased negative emotionality and worsened sleep.
More studies are needed to elucidate further the roles that negative emotionality and effortful control play in sleep and alcohol problems in college students.
Reference
1. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.70080
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