Sleep and symptoms of depression and anxiety in mothers and fathers of infants: A longitudinal perspective

OBJECTIVES: This longitudinal study investigated bidirectional links between objective and self-reported sleep and symptoms of depression and anxiety in both parents from pregnancy to 12 months postpartum. Using Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models (RI-CLPM), we examined whether sleep disturbances predict later depressive and anxiety symptoms and vice versa. METHODS: A total of 232 couples were recruited during pregnancy. Data were collected in the third trimester and at 4, 8, and 12 months postpartum. Sleep was assessed over seven nights using actigraphy and diaries. Parents completed the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and the trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS: Correlational analyses demonstrated that lower self-reported sleep quality (diary, ISI) was significantly associated with higher depressive and anxiety symptoms in both parents, whereas actigraphy-based measures showed no such associations. RI-CLPM revealed within-person concurrent associations between poorer sleep quality and higher depressive-anxiety symptoms (combined score), especially in late postpartum. Prospectively, higher depressive-anxiety symptoms at 8 months predicted poorer reported sleep quality at 12 months in both parents. Only in fathers, did poorer sleep quality at 4 months predict increased depressive-anxiety symptoms at 8 months. CONCLUSION: Parental depressive-anxiety symptoms may increasingly contribute to ongoing sleep disturbances over time. This link may be shaped by unique postpartum processes, rather than reflecting only general adult sleep-mental health associations. Clinically, addressing parental distress symptoms could contribute to improvements in perceived sleep quality, though further research is needed to confirm this.