Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Association between sleep and mental health is well-documented, however, consensus on exact causality remains elusive. This study evaluates sleep in the progression of neuropsychological outcomes through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Following PRISMA protocols and pre-registered via PROSPERO, we screened 1,052 records, synthesizing 29 randomized controlled trials (RCTs; n=2,847) and 3 longitudinal studies (n=44,566). RCT results demonstrate that improving sleep quality reduces symptom severity with small-to-medium effect sizes (g_=_0.46), specifically for depression (g_=_0.48), anxiety (g_=_0.41), and stress (g_=_0.73). Longitudinal data revealed a moderate risk factor (HR=1.76), confirming poor sleep as a precursor to neuropsychological decline. High RCT heterogeneity (I_=81.7%) was addressed through sensitivity and bias analysis (Egger's p>.05). The evidence underscores sleep as a critical mechanism for cognitive and emotional regulation, supporting sleep-targeted interventions as a primary strategy for managing neuropsychological disorders.