Sleeping Through Adversity: Sleep Moderates Adolescents’ Resilient Adaptation After a Natural Disaster

Flooding is Europe’s most frequent natural disaster, impacting public health and well-being. This study examined risk and resilience factors in adolescents’ adjustment following the May 2023 Emilia Romagna flood. We investigated trajectories of positive/negative emotions and sleep–wake problems post-disaster, testing whether pre-disaster objective sleep (duration, efficiency, timing) served as promotive or protective resilience factors. Moderating roles of individual assets (circadian preferences) and contextual risks (disaster exposure) were also assessed. To this aim, this longitudinal study followed a sample of 385 adolescents (Mage = 15.46, SDage = 1.16, 53.8% females) across five waves from September 2022 to February 2024. The flooding event occurred midway. Results showed that regarding post-disaster trajectories, adolescents reported reductions in negative emotions and wake disturbances and increases in positive emotions within three months after the flooding. However, these trends partially reversed between three and six months. Concluding, this study advances the understanding of adolescent post-disaster adjustment highlighting the complex interplay of resilience patterns in adolescent post-disaster adjustment. Inter-individual differences in sleep quality and regularity should be targeted to foster positive trajectories, with attention to individual and contextual moderators.