Abstract
This study examined the long-term associations between reports of sleep duration and diurnal cortisol secretion in older adulthood. It was hypothesized that longer sleep would protect older adults against increases in diurnal cortisol secretion over time. We tested this hypothesis using three waves of data from a 4-year longitudinal study involving 157 older adults. Results from growth curve and cross-lagged panel analyses demonstrated that levels and increases in sleep duration buffered long-term elevations of diurnal cortisol secretion. Reversed analyses indicated that diurnal cortisol secretion did not predict changes in sleep duration over time. These results were independent from sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex, partnership status, and education) and health-related variables (i.e., chronic illness, medication usage, body mass index, and smoking). They suggest that long sleep exerts restorative functions and protects older adults from exhibiting increases in diurnal cortisol secretion over time.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1029-1038 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Psychoneuroendocrinology |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2012 |
Funding
Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a doctoral fellowship from Concordia University to Rebecca Rueggeberg, grants and awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to Carsten Wrosch and grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research ( 89736 ), and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada awarded to Gregory Miller.
Keywords
- Cortisol secretion
- Older adulthood
- Sleep duration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
- Endocrinology
- Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Biological Psychiatry