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Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2/2020

01-02-2020 | Brief report

Loneliness and sleep in older adults

Author: Aparna Shankar

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 2/2020

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Abstract

Purpose

The present analysis aims to examine if loneliness is associated with sleep problems and duration over a 4-year period in a sample of older adults aged 50 years and over.

Methods

Data on loneliness, sleep duration, sleep problems and covariates were obtained from 5698 participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing at baseline (wave 4) and follow up (wave 6).

Results

Following adjustment for covariates, baseline loneliness was associated with an increase in the odds of reporting short sleep, and more sleep problems at follow up.

Conclusions

Short sleep may represent an important mechanism through which loneliness affects health.
Appendix
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Footnotes
1
I would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.
 
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Metadata
Title
Loneliness and sleep in older adults
Author
Aparna Shankar
Publication date
01-02-2020
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 2/2020
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01805-8

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