Aims: We investigated gender differences among adolescents in quality of sleep, psychophysiological problems, dream frequency, emotional states, and personality traits and also if the effect of quality of sleep on psychophysiological problems, dream frequency, emotional states, and personality traits was moderated by gender.
Method: High school pupils (n1 = 155, n2 = 142, and n3 = 325) responded to the Uppsala Sleep Inventory, the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, Beck’s Depression Inventory, the Type A-Personality Scale, and the Temperament and Character Inventory. Gender differences were investigated using Multivariate Analyses of Variance and moderation using multi-group Structural Equation Modeling.
Results: Girls scored higher in major sleep problems, difficulties falling asleep, night awakenings, psychophysiological problems, dream frequency, negative affect, depression, stress, and Type A-personality. Boys scored higher in novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and persistence. Girls’ quality of sleep was related to their psychophysiological problems, dream frequency, positive affect, negative affect, stress, novelty seeking, reward dependence, persistence, and self-directedness. Boys’ quality of sleep was related to their psychophysiological problems, negative affect, stress, Type A-personality, novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-directedness.
Conclusion: Girls showed the unhealthiest sleep-psychophysiological-emotional-personality profile. For both genders, good quality of sleep or “beauty sleep” might result in less psychophysiological problems, less negative affect, less stress, less novelty seeking, and less self-directedness. However, for boys, “sleeping beauty” comprises less Type A-behaviour, ss harm avoidance, and more reward dependence; while for girls “sleeping beauty” comprises less frequency of vivid dreams, more positive affect, less reward dependence, and more persistent behaviour.