Gender differences in sleep problems: The mediating role of co-rumination and depressive symptoms

•Females had more sleep problems, co-rumination, and depressive symptoms than males.•Co-rumination and depressive symptoms explained gender differences in sleep.•Gender moderated the link from co-rumination to sleep through depressive symptoms.

Co-rumination is a dyadic tendency in which two members excessively discuss and revisit problems while focusing on negative feelings. Co-rumination is more prominent among female friends than male friends, which helps to account in part for gender differences in depressive symptoms. The current study adopted a socioemotional perspective to examine whether gender differences in sleep problems could be mediated by co-rumination in friendships and depressive symptoms. A sample of 172 young adults (Mage = 19.15) participated in a self-report study. Mediation analysis showed that females reported higher co-rumination and depressive symptoms, both of which were related to more sleep problems. Moderated mediation analysis further revealed that the mediational role of depressive symptoms between co-rumination and sleep problems was stronger for females compared to males.