Vera van de Straat1, Boris Cheval2,3, Ralph E Schmidt4, Stefan Sieber5, Delphine Courvoisier5,6, Matthias Kliegel5,7, Claudine Burton-Jeangros5, Stéphane Cullati5,6, Piet Bracke8. 1. aDepartment of Sociology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. 2. bSwiss NCCR "LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives", Institute of Demography and Socioeconomics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 3. cDepartment of General Internal Medicine, Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 4. dDepartment of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 5. Swiss NCCR "LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives", Institute of Demography and Socioeconomics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 6. Department of General Internal Medicine, Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 7. eCenter for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 8. Department of Sociology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to assess how childhood socioeconomic conditions are associated with sleeping problems in older adults and how this association may be mediated by socioeconomic conditions across the lives of individuals using a life course perspective. Since the life course opportunities differ systematically between men and women, attention was given to gender differences in the association. Methods: Data from 23,766 individuals aged over 50 years of the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used. Logistic mixed-effect models were estimated to examine the associations between childhood socioeconomic conditions and the presence of sleeping problems. Results: For women, the analyses showed an association between childhood socioeconomic conditions and sleeping problems. For men, only current socioeconomic conditions were found to be relevant for sleep. The importance of childhood socioeconomic conditions for sleeping problems did not affect the evolution of sleeping problems over ageing. Conclusion: In this study no empirical support was found for processes of cumulative advantage/disadvantage or age-as-leveler. However, childhood does seem to be a critical period for the sleep of women, because the association with childhood socioeconomic conditions remains even when the circumstances later in life are considered. These findings, in particular the gender differences in the association, underline the importance of tracking life course patterns in the study of sleeping problems in older adults.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess how childhood socioeconomic conditions are associated with sleeping problems in older adults and how this association may be mediated by socioeconomic conditions across the lives of individuals using a life course perspective. Since the life course opportunities differ systematically between men and women, attention was given to gender differences in the association. Methods: Data from 23,766 individuals aged over 50 years of the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used. Logistic mixed-effect models were estimated to examine the associations between childhood socioeconomic conditions and the presence of sleeping problems. Results: For women, the analyses showed an association between childhood socioeconomic conditions and sleeping problems. For men, only current socioeconomic conditions were found to be relevant for sleep. The importance of childhood socioeconomic conditions for sleeping problems did not affect the evolution of sleeping problems over ageing. Conclusion: In this study no empirical support was found for processes of cumulative advantage/disadvantage or age-as-leveler. However, childhood does seem to be a critical period for the sleep of women, because the association with childhood socioeconomic conditions remains even when the circumstances later in life are considered. These findings, in particular the gender differences in the association, underline the importance of tracking life course patterns in the study of sleeping problems in older adults.
Entities:
Keywords:
Sleeping problems; aging; life course; life span; socioeconomic conditions
Authors: Boris Cheval; Silvio Maltagliati; Stefan Sieber; David Beran; Aïna Chalabaev; David Sander; Stéphane Cullati; Matthieu P Boisgontier Journal: Ann Behav Med Date: 2021-08-23
Authors: Yohannes Adama Melaku; Sarah Appleton; Amy C Reynolds; Alexander M Sweetman; David J Stevens; Leon Lack; Robert Adams Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2019-09-04