Sleep quality and anger expression: An examination of psychosocial mechanisms across the adult lifespan

Abstract

Despite perceptions that older adults will “age out” of violent or aggressive behaviors, aggression remains a unique concern in late-life and can have severe implications for this age group. Emerging research has investigated a universal health behavior – sleep – as a risk and protective factor for aggressive behavior. However, little is known about how sleep and aggression may be linked in older adulthood or about the role of potential psychosocial mechanisms linking sleep and aggression. Consequently, the overall aim of the present study is to extend our understanding of the sleep—aggression link to older adulthood and to examine psychosocial factors as potential links of this association in a national sample of adults. Data from national sample of 816 adults from the Midlife in the United States dataset, were used to link sleep quality to anger expressed outwards via psychosocial mediators. Age differences in these associations were also examined. Using moderated parallel mediation models, poorer sleep quality predicted the expression of anger outwards via emotional (angrier affect, 95% CI [0.040, 0.137]) and cognitive (poorer perceptions of solidarity with family [0.001, 0.025], and affective solidarity towards a spouse or partner [0.019, 0.068]) pathways. However, there were significant age differences in these pathways with anger expression for older adults less driven by angry affect and more so by perceptions of solidarity with a spouse or partner. Sleep quality is tied to cognitive perceptions of relationships, although the target of these perceptions, and the subsequent links with anger expressions, depends on age. Therapeutic interventions for relational skills may need a different focus at different timepoints across the lifespan. Although angry affect emerged as a pathway for younger and middle-aged adults, managing anger may be less relevant than coping with perceptions of interpersonal relationships for older adults. • Sleep quality is a risk and protective factor for aggressive behavior. • Little is known about how sleep and aggression may be linked in older adulthood. • Using moderated parallel mediation models, poorer sleep quality predicted the expression of anger outwards via emotional and cognitive pathways. • Poorer sleep quality predicted the expression of anger outwards via emotional and cognitive pathways. • Anger expression for older adults driven more by perceptions of solidarity with a spouse/partner than by angry affect.