The present study evaluated associations among sleep health, insomnia symptoms, and loneliness across the adult lifespan. Adults ages 19-99 (N = 2297, Mage = 44 years) completed an online RU-SATED sleep health questionnaire, Insomnia Severity Index, and Gierveld Loneliness scale (measuring total, social and emotional loneliness). Direct associations among sleep health, insomnia symptoms, and loneliness were examined. Moderation analyses investigated whether associations between sleep health, insomnia symptoms, and loneliness differed by age. Better sleep health and younger age were associated with lower loneliness total and subscale scores. Greater insomnia symptoms and older age were associated with higher loneliness total and subscale scores (p's < .05). Age moderated associations between sleep health and total and emotional loneliness (b = 0.01, t = 2.63, p = .009; b = 0.04, t = 3.15, p = .002) and between insomnia symptoms and total and emotional loneliness scores (b = -0.002, t = -2.30, p = .02; b = -0.002, t = -2.88, p = .004), such that the associations were strongest in younger adults compared to other ages. Younger adults may experience more benefits of better sleep health on loneliness compared to older adults. Insomnia symptoms were associated with loneliness across the lifespan but were less pronounced among older adults. It may be worth exploring how promoting sleep health might assist in reducing loneliness across the adult lifespan.
Nielson et al. (Tue,) studied this question.