Objective: To investigate mood as a mediator or moderator of the pain-sleep relationship in children with sickle cell disease (SCD).
Method: Children with SCD (n = 20; aged 8-12 years) completed daily diaries assessing mood, sleep, and pain for up to 2 months. Data was analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results Results indicate that negative mood partially mediates the relationship between high daily pain and poor sleep that night as well the relationship between poor sleep and high daily pain the following day. The impact of poor sleep on high pain the following day was weakened at increasing levels of positive mood.
Conclusion: Research is needed to fully explore the ways positive and negative mood may relate to pain and sleep characteristics. This information may be beneficial for developing more effective pain management and sleep interventions.