Sleep Disturbances in a Young Adult Population: Can Gender Differences Be Explained by Differences in Psychological Status?

TLDR

The study examined how common sleep disturbances are among young adults and how they relate to psychological status. Researchers surveyed 529 randomly selected 20–45‑year‑olds with questionnaires and used multiple regression adjusting for age, smoking, snoring, gender, and psychological status to assess gender differences. Females reported longer total sleep time yet more sleep problems—difficulty staying asleep, daytime sleepiness, and feeling unrefreshed—and higher anxiety, with gender differences persisting even after accounting for anxiety.

Abstract

To study the prevalence of reported sleep disturbances and the association between these complaints and psychological status, 529 randomly selected subjects aged 20–45 years were questioned about their sleep symptoms and psychological status by means of questionnaires. In this young population, feeling refreshed in the morning almost every day was reported by only 15.3%. Females reported a significantly longer mean total sleep time (TST) than males (F: 425 ± 58 minutes, M: 403 ± 50 minutes; p < 0.01). Despite this, the difference compared with the reported need of sleep was greater in females (56 ± 62 minutes) than in males (40 ± 51 minutes) (p < 0.05). Difficulties maintaining sleep (DMS, ≥3/week) (F: 20.1%, M: 10.4%; p < 0.01), the absence of feeling refreshed in the morning (F: 36.2%, M: 26.8%; p < 0.05), and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) (F: 23.3%, M: 15.9%; p < 0.05) were significantly more common among females. According to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, females suffered from anxiety more frequently than males (F: 32.8%, M: 18.9%; p < 0.001). An association was found between anxiety and many sleep disturbances. After making adjustments for age, smoking, snoring, gender and psychological status by means of multiple regression, the gender differences mentioned above remained significant. We conclude that despite a longer TST, females report insufficient sleep, EDS, DMS, and the absence of feeling refreshed in the morning more frequently than males. The higher prevalence of anxiety among females alone cannot explain the gender differences in sleep disturbances seen in this population.