Individual and joint associations of daily sleep and stress with daily well-being in hospital nurses: an ecological momentary assessment and actigraphy study

Sleep and stress are predictors of daily physical and emotional well-being, but few studies assess both simultaneously. This study examined individual and joint associations of daily sleep and stress with daily well-being (DWB) in hospital nurses. Nurses (n = 60) participated in a 14-day ecological momentary assessment and actigraphy study. Multilevel modeling revealed associations of stressor severity and poor sleep health with DWB, independent of and coupled with each other, at within- and between-person levels. Greater stressor severity or poorer sleep health, independent of each other, were associated with more physical symptoms, less positive affect (PA), and more negative affect (NA). Joint associations of stress and sleep with DWB were observed: PA was lowest when higher stressor severity was coupled with poorer sleep health; NA was lowest when lower stressor severity was coupled with better sleep health. Findings suggest the importance of considering both sleep and stress for DWB in hospital nurses.