Latent transdiagnostic dimensions linking sleep and psychopathology map onto distinct connectome-wide networks

The research examined the relationship between sleep disturbances and psychiatric symptoms in 260 patients with various psychiatric diagnoses from the YaleNeuroConnect cohort. Using analysis of seven components of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and 55 clinical, affective, cognitive, and interpersonal measures, two main dimensions linking sleep and psychopathology were identified. The first dominant dimension linked widespread subjective sleep disturbances, particularly daytime dysfunction, to general symptom burden including global severity, perceived stress, and fatigue. This dimension was expressed through reduced coupling between the default mode network and frontoparietal and cerebellar systems. The second dimension linked shorter sleep duration and prolonged sleep latency to lower self-assurance and positive affect. These findings suggest that sleep is not merely a comorbid symptom, but a multidimensional organizing feature of transdiagnostic psychopathology.