Subjective cognition is a predictor of cognitive decline and previous work has identified age, education and depression as predictors of subjective cognition. This study aimed to investigate whether several sleep characteristics were associated with subjective cognition above-and-beyond known predictors.

Participants (N=3284, Mage=42.7 years, 48.5% female) completed an online study that included the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), RU-SATED, Sleep Regularity Questionnaire (SRQ) and the 6-item PROMIS Cognitive Function. A 3-step hierarchical regression model predicted PROMIS Cognition scores, with Step 1 including age and education as predictors, Step 2 including age, education, and PHQ-4 scores, and Step 3 including all previous variables and sleep variables.

In Step 1 (R2=.03), age and education were significant predictors, while in Step 2 (R2=.36), PHQ-4 and education were significant, and age was no longer significant. In Step 3 (R2=.48), PHQ-4, ISI, RU-SATED, and SRQ scores were significant, while age and education were not significant. All steps accounted for a significant increase in variance (p’s<.001).

Sleep characteristics were associated with subjective cognition above-and-beyond known predictors of age, education and mood. Further research is needed to investigate whether changes in sleep characteristics are associated with changes in subjective cognition.