0151 Investigating Childhood Adversity as a Moderator Between Sleep Loss and Intentions to Eat Sweets/Junk Food

Abstract Introduction Prior work suggests poor sleep alters dopamine-reward systems (Wu et al., 2024), blunts positive emotions (Palmer et al., 2024), and increases cravings for sweet and fatty foods (Crispim et al., 2007; Kracht et al., 2019). Sleep loss also impacts negative emotional experiences, such as anxiety (Palmer et al., 2024). Additional studies have found that individuals vary in response to sleep loss, but moderators of these associations between sleep and daytime emotional experiences are not well-understood. Childhood adversity blunts responses to reward, heightens threat sensitivity, and may further exacerbate the effects of insufficient sleep. Methods Participants included 56 healthy adults, who reported on their childhood adversity, and were randomly assigned to one night of sleep restriction (4h TIB) or healthy sleep (8h TIB). The next morning, one hour after waking, participants completed measures of positive and negative affect, anxiety, and their cravings and intentions to consume sweets/junk food that day. Results Sleep restricted participants reported greater anxiety [t(44.28) = 2.42, p = .02]. Childhood adversity moderated the relationship between sleep restriction and both cravings (p = .007) and intentions (p = .04). Sleep restriction resulted in reduced cravings for sweets/junk food, but this was only significant for those reporting high levels of childhood adversity (B = 2.10, SE = .62, p = .001). Similarly, sleep restriction resulted in a reduction in intentions to consume sweets/junk food, but only at high levels of adversity (B = 3.06, SE = .922, p = .002). There were no differences in cravings or intentions for those with low adversity. Conclusion Prior research has found that sleep loss heightens anxiety and alters dopamine-reward systems in ways that heighten cravings. This study extends this prior work by examining how childhood adversity may alter these associations. Adversity was related to increased cravings and intentions after healthy sleep, but this was blunted after sleep loss. Sleep loss increased anxiety regardless of childhood adversity. These results reflect the complex mechanisms through which sleep and adversity interact to alter motivation and mesolimbic systems. Implications for future research will be discussed. Support (if any)