Dynamic Associations Among Sleep, Emotion Dysregulation, and Desire to Live in a Perinatal Sample

Objective The present study prospectively examined dynamic associations among sleep, emotion dysregulation, and desire to live during the perinatal transition, as it was theorized that these factors may contribute to the emergence of postpartum suicide risk. Method Ninety-four women ( M age = 29.2 years; 23.4% Latina) wore wrist actigraphs and completed twice daily surveys for 7 days during the third trimester of pregnancy, 6 weeks postpartum, and 4 months postpartum. Multilevel, change-as-outcome models were built to examine changes in attractor dynamics among sleep, emotion dysregulation, and desire to live, as well as if sleep-emotion dysregulation dynamics differed based on participants’ desires to live. Results From pregnancy to 6 weeks postpartum, emotion dysregulation ( B = −0.09, p = .032) and desire to live ( B = −0.16, p < .001) exhibited more stable temporal patterns around higher emotion dysregulation and lower desire to live. Compared to women who reported consistently high desires to live, those who experienced fluctuations in their desires to live exhibited lower, more stable sleep efficiency during pregnancy ( B = −0.90, p < .001). At 4 months postpartum, those with fluctuating desires to live exhibited a coupling dynamic whereby low sleep efficiency predicted increases in emotion dysregulation ( B = −0.16, p = .020). Conclusions This study was the first to examine nonlinear dynamics among risk factors for postpartum suicide, which may be evident as early as pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum. Sleep health, in particular, warrants further exploration as a key susceptibility factor in the emergence of postpartum suicide risk. Preregistration Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/qxb75/?view_only=799ffe5c048842dfb89d3ddfebaa420d).