Perceived stress mediates the relationship between emotional loneliness and sleep quality over time in older adults
- PMID: 22988915
- DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8287.2012.02101.x
Perceived stress mediates the relationship between emotional loneliness and sleep quality over time in older adults
Abstract
Objective: Both loneliness and poor sleep quality are common occurrences in late life and both are detrimental to physical and mental health. While loneliness may be difficult to intervene upon, there may be correlated factors, which, if alleviated, could mitigate the effects of loneliness and sleep quality on health in late life.
Design: A longitudinal, observational study whereby we gathered predictive variables at baseline and dependent variable (sleep) at follow-up.
Method: We investigated the relationship between loneliness at baseline and sleep quality at follow-up in a group of 447 older adults attending the clinic for research participation. Loneliness, stress and sleep quality were all measured using self-report validated psychometric tools.
Results: We found that loneliness, specifically emotional loneliness, predicted sleep quality at follow-up, controlling for demographic factors and for sleep quality at baseline. Upon applying mediation methods to the data, we then found that this relationship was mediated in part by perceived stress.
Conclusion: We conclude that the impact of emotional loneliness on sleep quality in older adults is partly because of the stress experienced as a result of feeling lonely.
© 2012 The British Psychological Society.
Similar articles
-
Loneliness and neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and inflammatory stress responses in middle-aged men and women.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2004 Jun;29(5):593-611. doi: 10.1016/S0306-4530(03)00086-6. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2004. PMID: 15041083
-
Increased risk of mortality associated with social isolation in older men: only when feeling lonely? Results from the Amsterdam Study of the Elderly (AMSTEL).Psychol Med. 2012 Apr;42(4):843-53. doi: 10.1017/S0033291711001772. Epub 2011 Sep 6. Psychol Med. 2012. PMID: 21896239
-
Loneliness trajectories from middle childhood to pre-adolescence: impact on perceived health and sleep disturbance.J Adolesc. 2013 Dec;36(6):1295-304. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.12.009. Epub 2013 Feb 10. J Adolesc. 2013. PMID: 23403089
-
Loneliness and the health of older people.Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008 Dec;23(12):1213-21. doi: 10.1002/gps.2054. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008. PMID: 18537197 Review.
-
Relationship between loneliness, psychiatric disorders and physical health ? A review on the psychological aspects of loneliness.J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Sep;8(9):WE01-4. doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2014/10077.4828. Epub 2014 Sep 20. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014. PMID: 25386507 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Unveiling Coronasomnia: Pandemic Stress and Sleep Problems During the COVID-19 Outbreak.Nat Sci Sleep. 2024 May 27;16:543-553. doi: 10.2147/NSS.S459945. eCollection 2024. Nat Sci Sleep. 2024. PMID: 38827389 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Sleep quality in relation to perceived psychological stress in patients with type 2 diabetes and in age- and sex-matched control individuals.Acta Diabetol. 2024 Jun;61(6):781-790. doi: 10.1007/s00592-024-02261-w. Epub 2024 Mar 13. Acta Diabetol. 2024. PMID: 38480555
-
The contribution of social isolation and loneliness to sleep disturbances among older adults: a systematic review.Sleep Biol Rhythms. 2022 Feb 28;20(2):153-163. doi: 10.1007/s41105-022-00380-x. eCollection 2022 Apr. Sleep Biol Rhythms. 2022. PMID: 38469248 Free PMC article. Review.
-
A Genetically Informed Study of the Association Between Perceived Stress and Loneliness.Behav Genet. 2024 May;54(3):268-277. doi: 10.1007/s10519-023-10176-5. Epub 2024 Feb 11. Behav Genet. 2024. PMID: 38341828 Free PMC article.
-
Exploring the relationship between loneliness and volunteering amongst Australian adults: a cross-sectional study.BMC Public Health. 2024 Jan 23;24(1):269. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-17807-4. BMC Public Health. 2024. PMID: 38263057 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical