The Influence of Sleep on Subjective Well-Being: An Experience Sampling Study

Previous research has associated sleep with subjective well-being (SWB), but less is known about the underlying within-person processes. In the current study, we investigated how self-reported and actigraphy-measured sleep parameters (sleep onset latency, sleep duration, sleep satisfaction, social jetlag, and sleep efficiency) influence SWB (positive and negative affect, life satisfaction) at the within- and between-person level. Multilevel analyses of data from 112 university students who completed a two-week experience sampling study revealed that higher within-person sleep satisfaction was a significant predictor of all three components of next day’s SWB (ps < .005). Higher between-person sleep satisfaction was also related to higher levels of positive affect and life satisfaction (ps < .005) whereas shorter self-reported between-person sleep onset latency was associated with higher positive affect and life satisfaction, and lower negative affect (ps < .05). However, longer actigraphy-measured within-person sleep onset latency was associated with higher next day’s life satisfaction (p = .028). When including within- and between-person sleep parameters into the same models predicting SWB, only within-and between-person sleep satisfaction remained a significant predictor of all components of SWB. Additionally, we found an effect of higher self-reported within-person sleep onset latency on positive affect and of higher self-reported within-person sleep duration on life satisfaction (ps < .05). Our results indicate that the evaluative component of sleep—sleep satisfaction—is most consistently linked with SWB. Thus, sleep interventions that are successful in not only altering sleep patterns but also enhancing sleep satisfaction may stand a better chance at improving students’ SWB.