The quality of social relationships and social support appears to be associated with physical health outcomes and sleep quality. Almost all previous research in this area focuses on positive aspects of relationships. In addition to supportive relationships, however, social networks include individuals with whom we have relationships that are aversive (negative), ambivalent (both highly positive and negative) and neutral (indifferent).

This study examined the links between supportive, aversive, ambivalent, and indifferent network ties and sleep quality. 175 middle-aged and older adults reported relationship data, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)-assessed sleep quality, and depression.

As predicted, supportive ties were positively related to sleep quality, while aversive ties predicted worse sleep quality, associations that were primarily seen for close relationships (for example, spouses). Ambivalent and indifferent ties were not significant predictors of sleep quality. Importantly, depression was found to mediate the link between relationship quality and sleep quality.

These data suggest the more specific types of social relationships that may be linked to poor sleep quality and that depression appears to underlie these associations.

Robert G Kent de Grey
Department of Psychology, University of Utah

Publication

Social Relationships and Sleep Quality.
Kent RG, Uchino BN, Cribbet MR, Bowen K, Smith TW.
Ann Behav Med. 2015 Dec

Read offline:     

Related Articles:

	Supportive relationships in children and adolescents facing… In the context of mass trauma events such as political violence and natural disasters, children and adolescents are inherently more vulnerable to maladjustment and psychopathology than adults. Despite this, many…
	Global climate change and mental health In the past decade, several empirical studies and systematic reviews of the literature have documented the mental health impacts of global climate change.  However, the range of impacts and their…
	WRGSD: improving reliability and efficiency for coastal… Water-quality response grid-based sampling design (WRGSD) using optimization and multi-factors assessment can reliably detect a variety of the impact of human activities. The sampling design are optimized by clustering and…
	The complex regulation and functional significance of size… Across animals, variation in body size is often influenced by environmental conditions and is considered to have adaptive value. In bees, in which many species show various degrees of sociality,…
	Social-economic factors predict state differences in opioid… Media accounts of the opioid overdose epidemic emphasize the role of prescription drugs and, to a lesser extent, declining economic and social conditions. In support of the journalists’ accounts, opioid…
	Soil and water bioengineering – Sustainable erosion… Accelerated soil erosion and loss is a serious environmental problem, particularly for the Mediterranean region, due to its long history of human pressures, seasonally contrasting climate and rugged topography. Anthropogenic…