Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34607184›Full record

SynthesisSleep medicine reviews2021

Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Alexander J Scott, Thomas L Webb, Marrissa Martyn-St James, Georgina Rowse, Scott Weich

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Sleep medicine reviews, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 536 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
536citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06551428 not yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

The Sleep Stress Connection: Investigating How Sleep Quality Affects Mental and Physical Health

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorAhmed Ali Mohammed ToradRan2025 to 2025Enrolled380ConditionsMental Health Issue, Physical Stress
NCT07566481 not yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Stress, Coping, and Sleep Health Study

TypeobservationalSponsorNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)Ran2026 to 2026Enrolled70ConditionsSleep
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

536 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  12. Impact of positive airway pressure for chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025
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  18. Results of a pilot randomized controlled trial of CBT-I for veterans with serious mental illness and insomnia.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026
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476 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Alexander J ScottKeele University, School of Psychology, Keele, UK. Electronic address: a.scott@keele.ac.uk.
Thomas L WebbDepartment of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, UK.
Marrissa Martyn-St JamesSchool of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), The University of Sheffield, UK.
Georgina RowseClinical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, UK.
Scott WeichSchool of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), The University of Sheffield, UK.

Funding

Department of Health PB-PG- 0817-20027
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The extent to which sleep is causally related to mental health is unclear. One way to test the causal link is to evaluate the extent to which interventions that improve sleep quality also improve mental health. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials that reported the effects of an intervention that improved sleep on composite mental health, as well as on seven specific mental health difficulties. 65 trials comprising 72 interventions and N = 8608 participants were included. Improving sleep led to a significant medium-sized effect on composite mental health (g+ = -0.53), depression (g+ = -0.63), anxiety (g+ = -0.51), and rumination (g+ = -0.49), as well as significant small-to-medium sized effects on stress (g+ = -0.42), and finally small significant effects on positive psychosis symptoms (g+ = -0.26). We also found a dose response relationship, in that greater improvements in sleep quality led to greater improvements in mental health. Our findings suggest that sleep is causally related to the experience of mental health difficulties. Future research might consider how interventions that improve sleep could be incorporated into mental health services, as well as the mechanisms of action that explain how sleep exerts an effect on mental health.

Indexed as

Mental HealthPsychotic DisordersAnxietyHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicSleepSleep QualityAnxietyCausal inferenceCBTiDepressionInsomniaMental healthMeta-analysisPsychosisSleepStress

Identifiers

PMID34607184
PMCPMC8651630

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.