Sleep Problems and Mental Health Widespread Among Naval Surface Vessel Personnel
Sailors serving on surface vessels face a double burden: poor sleep and emotional distress are alarmingly common among specialized operation personnel at sea, according to a new study from the Naval Medical University in Shanghai, published in BMC Psychology.
The study surveyed 600 randomly selected specialized operation personnel on surface vessels, assessing anxiety, depression, and sleep quality using validated instruments — the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The results point to a mental health challenge that the researchers say warrants routine psychological screening.
What they found
Spearman correlation analysis revealed several significant associations:
- Anxiety symptoms were linked to years of service (r = 0.130, p = 0.001), family residence (r = -0.153, p < 0.001), and sleep quality (r = 0.199, p < 0.001).
- Depression symptoms were associated with parental relationship (r = -0.134, p = 0.001), family residence (r = -0.144, p < 0.001), and sleep quality (r = 0.122, p < 0.05).
The most striking finding came from binary logistic regression: poor sleep quality (higher PSQI scores) was the strongest predictor of anxiety, with an odds ratio of 2.187 (p = 0.001). This means that personnel with worse sleep quality were more than twice as likely to report clinically significant anxiety symptoms. Notably, all PSQI subscales — covering subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, duration, efficiency, disturbances, medication use, and daytime dysfunction — were significantly correlated with both anxiety and depression scores.
Why it matters
Naval personnel operate in environments that are inherently hostile to healthy sleep: irregular watch schedules, confined quarters, noise, vibration, and prolonged separation from family and social support systems. This study quantifies what has been anecdotally understood for years — that these conditions exact a measurable toll on both sleep and emotional well-being.
The finding that sleep quality is the strongest independent predictor of anxiety is clinically meaningful. It suggests that interventions targeting sleep — whether through schedule optimization, environmental improvements, or cognitive behavioral approaches — could have downstream benefits for mental health in this population.
The researchers also identified specific at-risk subgroups: older personnel, those from rural backgrounds, and those with longer years of service showed higher vulnerability. These groups may benefit from targeted screening and support.
Limits
The study is cross-sectional, so the direction of causality cannot be determined — poor sleep may cause anxiety, anxiety may disrupt sleep, or both may be driven by underlying factors such as operational stress or deployment conditions. The sample was drawn from a single naval command, which may limit generalizability to other branches or navies. All measures were self-reported, introducing the possibility of recall bias. The study also did not include objective sleep measures such as actigraphy or polysomnography.
Bottom line
Sleep problems and emotional distress are prevalent among specialized operation personnel on surface vessels, with poor sleep quality more than doubling the odds of anxiety. The findings underscore the need for routine psychological screening in naval populations and suggest that improving sleep hygiene and working conditions could have measurable mental health benefits for personnel at sea.
Source
Liu G, Zhang Y. “Emotional and sleep problems and their associated factors among specialized operation personnel on surface vessels.” BMC Psychology, published online June 12, 2026. DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-04930-7. PMID: 42286661.