The Relationship Between Sleep Quality and Psychological Resilience in Turkish Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study

Adolescents have experienced negative psychological and physiological effects during the COVID-19 pandemic, including sleep disturbances. Previous research has demonstrated a reciprocal relationship between sleep quality and psychological resilience, but there is a lack of evidence on their association. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between sleep quality and psychological resilience among adolescents using cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) designs. Participants were 244 high school students (195 females, mean age = 15.35) from a South-eastern city in Turkey. Data were collected at two time points in 2021 and 2022, approximately three months interval. Demographic characteristics, sleep problems and psychological resilience were assessed. The Robust Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLR) was employed to conduct auto-regressive cross-lagged models to examine the association between psychological resilience and sleep quality. The results revealed that poor sleep quality at the initial assessment point (T1) negatively correlated with psychological resilience at T1 assessment point. Furthermore, the initial level of psychological resilience predicted better sleep quality and increased resilience at T2, suggesting a unidirectional influence of resilience on sleep quality over time. However, T1 poor sleep quality did not predict T2 psychological resilience. These findings imply that resilience can foster better sleep outcomes. These results suggest that schools and mental health professionals should consider integrating sleep hygiene practices and resilience-building exercises into their intervention programs.