Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan 1:168:110371.
doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110371. Epub 2020 Aug 28.

COVID-19 related loneliness and sleep problems in older adults: Worries and resilience as potential moderators

Ephraim S Grossman  1 , Yaakov S G Hoffman  2 , Yuval Palgi  3 , Amit Shrira  2
Affiliations

COVID-19 related loneliness and sleep problems in older adults: Worries and resilience as potential moderators

Ephraim S Grossman et al. Pers Individ Dif. .

Abstract

Objectives: Older adults may experience loneliness due to social distancing and isolation during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Loneliness may further catalyze numerous poor health outcomes including impaired sleep. This study aimed to assess COVID-19 related worries and resilience as potential moderators of the loneliness-sleep problems link.

Method: In the midst of the lock-down period of COVID-19, we collected data using a web-based public platform from 243 Israeli older adults (mean age = 69.76, SD = 6.69, age range = 60-92). Participants completed measures of COVID-19 related loneliness, sleep problems, COVID-related worries, and resilience.

Results: COVID-19 related loneliness was related to more sleep problems. The loneliness-sleep association was especially strong among those with more COVID-19 related worries or among those with lower resilience.

Conclusion: The relationship between COVID-19 related loneliness and sleep problems is not uniform across older adults. The subjective sleep quality of those with more COVID-19 related worries or less resilience (i.e., feeling less being able to adapt to the challenging circumstances) is more susceptible to feeling lonely. Considering these variables may facilitate detection of and intervention for older adults vulnerable to aversive results in the context of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Loneliness; Resilience; Sleep problems; Worries.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The interaction between COVID-19 related loneliness and COVID-19 related worries on sleep problems.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The interaction between COVID-19 related loneliness and resilience on sleep problems.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Åkerstedt T., Kecklund G., Axelsson J. Impaired sleep after bedtime stress and worries. Biological Psychology. 2007;76:170–173. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.07.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Altena E., Baglioni C., Espie C.A., Ellis J., Gavriloff D., Holzinger B., Riemann D. Dealing with sleep problems during home confinement due to the COVID-19 outbreak: Practical recommendations from a task force of the European CBT-I Academy. Journal of Sleep Research. 2020;29 doi: 10.1111/jsr.13052. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bartel K.A., Gradisar M., Williamson P. Protective and risk factors for adolescent sleep: A meta-analytic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2015;21:72–85. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2014.08.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bastien C.H., Vallières A., Morin C.M. Validation of the Insomnia Severity Index as an outcome measure for insomnia research. Sleep Medicine. 2001;2:297–307. doi: 10.1016/S1389-9457(00)00065-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cacioppo J.T., Cacioppo S. Social relationships and health: The toxic effects of perceived social isolation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 2014;8:58–72. https://doi-org.mgs.ariel.ac.il/10.1111/spc3.12087 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources