The moderating role of conscientiousness in the temporal association of stress on sleep

Personality traits have been associated with sleep problems and stress experience. However, their impact on objective sleep and the temporal relationship of stress on sleep has remained elusive. This study examined whether daytime stress predicts sleep the following night, and the moderating role of neuroticism and conscientiousness in this relationship. To introduce stress variability in natural daily stressors, we measured college students (N = 92) during exams (e.g. high academic stress) and at the start of new course period (e.g. low academic stress). Both objective (actigraphy) and subjective sleep, and daily self-reported stress, were measured for 14 days and personality traits once. Reported daily stress was significantly higher in the exam period compared with baseline, suggesting that our natural manipulation did indeed result in variation in stress levels. Intra-individual daily variations in stress were not associated with the following night's sleep timing, duration or fragmentation, implying that more stress during the day did not affect sleep the following night. Higher levels of neuroticism were associated with poorer daily subjective sleep quality and higher stress levels over the complete period. Neuroticism did not moderate the temporal association of stress on sleep. Conscientiousness moderated the association between intra-individual stress and sleep fragmentation, and intra-individual stress and wake-up time. This implied that highly conscientious participants experienced less sleep fragmentation and woke-up earlier after more stressful days. These results suggest an interconnected relationship among stress, sleep and personality. Focusing on one aspect, like handling stress or enhancing sleep quality, might yield positive effects on the rest.