Quality sleep can help you cope with loneliness, study finds

Recent research has found a strong connection between Quality sleep and loneliness. Individuals with better sleep habits experience lower levels of total loneliness, emotional loneliness, and social loneliness. This association is particularly pronounced among younger people, but age does not impact the relationship between quality sleep and social loneliness.

Lead author Joseph Dzierzewski, a clinical psychologist and vice president of research at the National Sleep Foundation in Washington, D.C., emphasizes the urgency of addressing loneliness as a public health crisis. The study underscores the crucial role that sleep plays in understanding loneliness across the adult lifespan. Efforts to enhance sleep health could potentially alleviate loneliness, especially among young individuals.

Recommendations for Sleep Health

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adults aim for at least seven hours of sleep per night to promote overall health, productivity, and daytime alertness. The study involved 2,297 adults, with an average age of 44 years, slightly over half of whom were male.

It was found that better sleep habits were associated with reduced loneliness. Focusing on sleep health becomes critical, particularly for younger adults, as we grapple with the public health challenges of loneliness and isolation.

The study’s results suggest that efforts to enhance sleep health could positively impact loneliness, especially among young people.

Participants completed an online sleep health questionnaire and the DeJong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, which assessed both social and emotional loneliness. Social loneliness referred to missing a broader social network, while emotional loneliness centered on the absence of an intimate partner.

Despite these findings, the exact reasons why sleep seems to benefit younger individuals more remain unclear, so further investigation is warranted. The study also involved researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Boston, collaborating with the National Sleep Foundation.

Loneliness has been recognized as a public health concern in other countries, including Japan and the United Kingdom. New York State even appointed Dr. Ruth, a renowned sex therapist, as its first loneliness ambassador last fall.

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