Sensory Hypersensitivity Predicts Reduced Sleeping Quality in Patients With Major Affective Disorders

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the sensory profile (expressed as hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity) of patients with major affective disorders and its relative contribution to the prediction of sleep quality while considering affective temperaments and depression, which may impact sleep quality. We recruited 176 participants (mean age, 47.3 y), of whom 56.8% had a diagnosis of unipolar major depressive disorder and 43.2% a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Reduced sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Affective temperaments were assessed using the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego. Sensory hypersensitivity, assessed using the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile, significantly distinguished between poor and good sleepers. Sleep quality was mainly predicted by the Beck Depression Inventory-II total score and anxious temperament. Sensory hypersensitivity contributed to this prediction mainly with regard to sleep efficiency and related daytime dysfunction.

Pathways to Anxiety and Depression in Autistic Adolescents and Adults

“…GI symptoms in particular have been related to insomnia [15]. In non-autistic adults (N = 176), sensory hypersensitivity was higher in poor sleepers than good sleepers, and regression analyses showed that sensory sensitivity, depressive symptoms, and anxious temperament significantly predicted poor sleep [52]. Our findings are consistent with the physiological hyperarousal theory of insomnia [44,77] and the finding that somatic pre-sleep arousal was associated with insomnia symptoms in autistic adults [37].…”

“…Sensory sensitivity refers to hyper-or hypo-reactivity to sensory stimuli across sensory modalities and is common across all sensory modalities in those with high autistic traits, but more variable across sensory modalities in lowautistic trait individuals [51]. In non-autistic populations, sensory sensitivity is shown to relate with anxiety, depression, and insomnia [52][53][54]. In autistic children, sensory over-responsivity was associated with anxiety and insomnia and suggested to be due to hyperarousal [55].…”

Relationship between Sensory Processing and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review

“…Sensory processing has been referred to as the ability to analyze, modulate, and organize sensory incoming information to respond to environmental stimuli [1]. This term has been determined over years by different authors [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Different theoretical approaches support that sensing and perceiving environmental stimuli is a programmed and survival way of functioning in humans to reach adaptation to the context [3,4,10].…”

“…Different theoretical approaches support that sensing and perceiving environmental stimuli is a programmed and survival way of functioning in humans to reach adaptation to the context [3,4,10]. However, although humans are neurobiologically predisposed to environmental survival, differences have been found in the way in which individuals react to the environment, since some people seem to have more sensitive brains [9,10].…”

“…As indicated, it is usual that individuals present a variation in their sensory processing patterns; however, a higher degree of sensitivity in sensory processing might predispose health implications and the development of psychopathology [6,9,10,[14][15][16][17]. In this regard, a low threshold of sensory processing is known as a factor that could impact negatively on well-being, life satisfaction, quality of life (QOL), and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) [2,3,6,8,9,[17][18][19][20][21][22].…”