Depression and Sleep Quality: A Network Analysis

Multiple studies have supported the bi-directional relationship between sleep and depression. However, by adopting the latent constructs of depression and sleep quality, previous studies failed to map relationships among individual symptoms. To address the limitation, this study applied network analysis to investigate the relationships among individual nodes of sleep quality and depression. In specific, this study identified the most central node and bridges across these two conditions. Gaussian graphical models (GGM) of depression symptoms and aspects of sleep quality were calculated using the R package qgraph. By using the bridge functions in the networktools, this study found little relationship among individual items of sleep quality and depression. Moreover, sleep quality nodes served as the main bridges between sleep and depression. The network approach offered insights regarding the link between sleep and depression, which provided a more nuanced understanding of how depression and sleep quality are related.