Daily worry, rumination, and sleep in late life

Perseverative thinking (e.g., worry/rumination) is a common response to stress, and can be detrimental to well-being in late life. Sleep may represent an important mechanism by which perseverative thinking is disrupted or amplified from day to day. Yet, limited research has investigated the implications of worry and rumination for sleep, and vice versa, in late life. This study examined the associations between older adults’ everyday worry, rumination, and sleep. Older adults (N = 270) aged 65–89 completed a baseline interview and two daily dairies each day (i.e., one morning assessment and one evening assessment) for five to six days. Every morning, they indicated how worried they were about something that might happen that day, and rated qualities of their sleep the prior night (e.g., duration, subjective perceptions of quality, disturbances). Every evening, older adults rated worry and rumination they had experienced that day. Multilevel models showed that daytime worry and rumination reported before bed were associated with self-reported sleep disturbances and hours of sleep that night. More hours of sleep, higher sleep quality, and fewer sleep disturbances were associated with less worry the next morning. Prior night’s worry predicted greater next morning’s worry, but this association was significant only when older adults reported fewer hours of sleep, not when they reported more hours of sleep. Findings suggest that worry and rumination may tend to persist in older adults’ daily life, and highlight the protective role that better sleep may play in reducing older adults’ everyday perseverative thinking.