Daily Sleep, Social Encounters, and Momentary Loneliness in Late Life

Objectives Social experiences have implications for well-being in late life, and everyday sleep may play an important role in shaping those experiences. This study examines the associations between sleep, quality of social encounters, and momentary loneliness in older adults’ daily lives. Methods We used the ecological momentary assessment data over 5 to 6 days from the Daily Experiences and Well-being Study (N = 287, M age = 73.56). Every morning, older adults reported their sleep quality and sleep disturbances the prior night. At each three-hour assessment, they reported encounters with close and weak social ties, indicated the pleasantness and stressfulness of each encounter, and rated their feelings of loneliness. Results Multilevel models showed that older adults who overall reported higher sleep quality or fewer sleep disturbances also had more pleasant and less stressful encounters with both close and weak ties across the study period. More (less) pleasant and less (more) stressful encounters with close ties were associated with feeling less (more) lonely at a given assessment, especially on days when older adults had better sleep the prior night, compared to days when they had worse prior night’s sleep. In contrast, more (less) pleasant and less (more) stressful encounters with weak ties predicted feeling less (more) lonely regardless of the qualities of the prior night’s sleep. Discussion Findings suggest the promotive role that better sleep plays in older adults’ everyday social life and highlight the robust benefits that high-quality social encounters with weak ties may confer in mitigating loneliness in late life.