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. 2023 Feb 28:14:1127070.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1127070. eCollection 2023.

Association between quarantine and sleep disturbance in Hong Kong adults: The mediating role of COVID-19 mental impact and distress

Ted C T Fong  1 , Kay Chang  2 , Rainbow T H Ho  1   3
Affiliations

Association between quarantine and sleep disturbance in Hong Kong adults: The mediating role of COVID-19 mental impact and distress

Ted C T Fong et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 quarantine has been associated with increased sleep problems and prolonged psychological responses to the pandemic could mediate this relationship. The present study attempted to examine the mediating role of COVID-19 mental impact and distress between quarantine and sleep disturbance.

Methods: The present study recruited 438 adults (109 with quarantine experience) in Hong Kong via an online survey between August and October 2021. The respondents completed a self-report questionnaire on quarantine, Mental Impact and Distress Scale: COVID-19 (MIDc), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The MIDc was treated as a latent mediator and continuous PSQI factor and poor sleep quality (PSQI score > 5) were the study outcomes. We evaluated the direct and indirect effects of quarantine on sleep disturbance via MIDc using structural equation modeling. Analyses were adjusted for gender, age, education level, knowing confirmed COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 frontline work, and primary income source of the family.

Results: More than half (62.8%) of the sample reported poor sleep quality. Quarantine was associated with significantly higher levels of MIDc and sleep disturbance (Cohen d = 0.23 - 0.43, p < 0.05). In the structural equation model, the MIDc mediated the relationship between quarantine and sleep disturbance (αβ = 0.152, 95% CI = 0.071 to 0.235). Quarantine significantly increased the proportion of poor sleep quality by 10.7% (95% CI = 0.050 to 0.171) indirectly via MIDc.

Conclusions: The results provide empirical support to the mediating role of the MIDc as psychological responses in the relationship between quarantine and sleep disturbance.

Keywords: COVID-19; Chinese; pandemic; psychological distress; quarantine; sleep problems.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Standardized coefficients of the structural equation model from quarantine experience to PSQI factor via MIDc factor. PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; MIDc, Mental Impact and Distress Scale: COVID-19. Standard errors are presented in parenthesis. The blue, black, and red arrows denoted the factor loadings, covariate effects, and main regression paths, respectively. The indirect pathways from quarantine to PSQI via MIDc were highlighted in bold. The seven PSQI observed components and non-significant paths from control variables to MIDc and PSQI were not shown in the figure for the simplicity of presentation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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