Self-blame and catastrophising as common indicators of subjective sleep quality and mental health

This study explored how cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) relate to mental health and sleep quality in young adults and aimed to identify specific CERS associated with both. Self-measured methods were used in 1030 young adults. Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Cognitive Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Data were analysed using Spearman correlation and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Less adaptive CERS were significantly associated with poorer subjective sleep quality and with increased depression and anxiety symptoms. However, adaptive CERS were not significantly associated with sleep quality and depressive symptoms but showed a positive correlation with anxiety symptoms. SEM showed that catastrophising and self-blame were significantly positively associated with both mental health and sleep quality. These findings suggest that targeting specific CERS could be a practical approach to improving sleep quality and mental health.