Abstract Introduction Previous community-based studies have shown that daytime napping is associated with worse mental health, yet this has not been explored among working-age adults at the US-Mexico border. Methods Data were collected from 992 working-age adults (age 25-60) living at the US-Mexico Border. Napping was assessed with: “How often do you take naps during the day (lasting for less than 1 hour)?” Responses were either “Never,” “1/month or less,” “1/week or less,” “2-5 times per week,” or “5/week or more.” Mental health variables including total scores on the PHQ9 depression scale, GAD7 anxiety scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Social Vigilance Questionnaire (SVQ). Linear regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, education, and language of administration. Interactions with subjective and objective sleep duration, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score, and degree of perceived control over sleep (BRISC score). Results Napping data was reported by N=970 respondents. 56,2% reported never napping., 16.2% reported naps 1/month or less, 14.4% reported naps 1/week or less, 10.1% reported naps 2-5 times/week, and 3.1% reported naps 5 times/week or more. Higher depression scores were seen for those who report naps 2-5 times/week (B=0.84, 95%CI 0.06, 1.63) and 5+ times/week (B=3.71 95%CI 2.33, 5.10). Higher GAD7 scores were associated with naps 5+ times/week (B=1.45 95%CI 0.31, 2.58). Higher social vigilance was associated with naps 1/month or less (B=2.60 95%CI 1.24, 3.95). Significant interactions were seen for PHQ9 (nap-by-BRISC), MSPSS (nap-by-BRISC), and SVQ (nap-by-PSQI). Post-hoc analyses examined marginal effects. Conclusion Frequent napping was associated with higher depression and anxiety, while infrequent napping was linked to greater social vigilance than no napping. These associations varied with overall sleep quality and circadian patterns. Future work should more fully explore the role of acculturation and napping circumstances (such as employment/work). Support (if any) R01MD011600, R01MH135978
Kothapeta et al. (Fri,) studied this question.