A-190: The Relationship Between Attentional Variability and Emotional Variability in a Sleep Deprivation Paradigm

Abstract

Objective: Sleep deprivation-related fatigue impairs attention and emotional regulation, yet its relationship with emotional-state variability remains understudied. Psychomotor Vigilance Tests assess alertness and variability via reaction times. Attentional variability was defined as the inverse coefficient of variation of PVT responses, and emotional variability as the standard deviation of VAMS ratings. We hypothesized greater AV would be associated with increased EV, reflecting impaired regulation. Method/Data Selection: Twenty healthy adults (11 males, 9 females; mean age = 23.6, SD = 4.7) completed online screening, a baseline 9-hour sleep, and 39 hours of continuous wakefulness. PVTs and VAMS were administered every six hours. EV was defined as the standard deviation across VAMS facets at each timepoint, and AV as 1/CV of PVT reaction times. Linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts were conducted. Results/Data Synthesis: The model revealed a significant association between AV and EV. Variance in VAMS scores significantly increased as psychomotor vigilance performance (1/CV) decreased (β = −1.10, SE = 0.27, t = −4.01, p = .0001). Thus, as participant psychomotor responses became more variable, their overall relative emotional stability decreased. Conclusions: Attentional variability (AV) increased with sleep deprivation and was associated with greater emotional variability (EV), consistent with negative affect observed in prefrontal dysfunction. These findings suggest instability in wakefulness coincides with broader dysregulation of emotional responsiveness. Future research should examine whether this relationship reflects cognitive reserve, as regulating complex affective states may require resources depleted during prolonged wakefulness.