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The Relationship Between Sleep Quality, Loneliness, and Sleep Value Profiles Across the Adult Lifespan

Written by Andrew Le, MD

UpdatedNovember 13, 2024

If you've ever felt that a good night's sleep makes you feel less lonely, recent research suggests you may be onto something. In studies examining various aspects of sleep and their connections to feelings of loneliness, academic investigators Julia Boyle, Spencer Nielson, and Joseph Dzierzewski have presented some intriguing insights into how our sleep patterns influence our sense of isolation.

The first study, as referenced in abstract citation ID: zsae067.0747, surveyed adults with the aim of exploring the links between sleep health—which includes various aspects such as sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction—and loneliness, using the Gierveld Loneliness Scale. It found out that, generally, better sleep health correlates with lower feelings of loneliness. However, this association was not uniform across the lifespan. Younger individuals exhibited a stronger connection between high-quality sleep and reduced loneliness, particularly regarding emotional loneliness, compared to older adults. This suggests that improved sleep might be an effective target for interventions aimed at mitigating feelings of loneliness, especially in younger populations.

In a similar vein, the second study examined how the severity of insomnia symptoms impacts loneliness across different ages, as detailed in the abstract citation ID: zsae067.0748. Greater insomnia severity and older age were both linked to higher levels of loneliness. Despite this, the study observed that this link was weaker in older adults. The research promotes the idea that including evidence-based insomnia treatments can enhance efforts to combat loneliness among the elderly. Additionally, it hints at the possibility that feeling less lonely might even protect against the development of insomnia as one gets older.

Touching on a related theme, a third study, with authors including Levi Ward and Daniel Kay, sought to understand the concept of 'sleep value' and how individuals throughout the adult lifespan perceive the importance of sleep. Using the Sleep Valuation Item Bank (SVIB), researchers conducted a survey to identify “sleep value profiles”, essentially groupings of people based on the importance they attribute to sleep. Five distinct sleep value profiles were identified, ranging from those who are indifferent about their sleep to those who prioritize it highly. Surprisingly, only 7% of the nationally representative sample placed a high value on sleep. These findings highlight that despite the known health benefits, many avoid prioritizing sleep, and that public health messaging on sleep should be tailored to address different sleep value profiles.

Research like this underscores the intricate tie between mental wellbeing and sleep, indicating that initiatives aimed at educating people about the importance of sleep health could potentially play a role in reducing feelings of loneliness across society.

For further understanding and insights into these studies, readers can access the full original articles in the SLEEP journal, Volume 47, Supplement 1, 2024.

To explore this topic more and gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between sleep, loneliness, and age, visit SLEEP where these studies were published.

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References

Boyle, J., Nielson, S., & Dzierzewski, J. (2024). Tired and lonely: An exploration of insomnia symptoms and loneliness across the adult lifespan. Sleep, 47(Supplement 1), A320. Abstract citation ID: zsae067.0747. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/47/Supplement_1/A320/7654859 on 15 July 2024. National Institute on Aging - K23AG049955 (PI: Dzierzewski). Ward, L., Sherriff, D., Yang, C., Wright, A., Duraccio, K., Calvin, D., Klingonsmith, B., & Kay, D. (2024). Sleep value profiles–Which type are you? Sleep, 47(Supplement 1), A320. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/47/Supplement_1/A320/7654859 on 15 July 2024.