Generation Exhausted: The Midlife Sleep Crisis

A new study warns of a generational decline in midlife sleep quality.

A study analyzing self-reported sleep data for approximately 200,000 Americans has revealed that roughly four in ten midlife adults are missing out on the sleep they need to function at their best. Whether they have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or end up waking up impossibly early in the morning, a significant percentage of midlife adults are failing to get the sleep they need.

How worrisome is the situation? 

Worrisome enough that the authors of the study, which has just been published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, are sounding the alarm, urging policymakers, clinicians, and researchers to find ways to address what they describe as "a pronounced decline in healthy sleeping patterns" in the current generation of midlife adults.

The researchers—Connor M. Sheehan and Frank Infurna of Arizona State University—analyzed the sleep habits of roughly 200,000 midlife Americans over the age of 50 by drawing upon self-reported data from two separate studies: the National Health Interview Survey and the Health and Retirement Study.

They were interested in determining whether, in fact, the current generation of midlife adults is more sleep-deprived than the generations that came before. Their findings were striking. While roughly one-quarter (23.6%) of adults who were born in the 1920s struggled to get enough sleep during their midlife years, by the time people who were born in the 1960s reached midlife, nearly four in ten (37.7%) reported being chronically sleep deprived.

While the researchers were quick to emphasize the need for additional research to learn more about what’s behind this worrisome trend, they highlighted three factors that they consider to be noteworthy: the widespread use of smartphones, increased occupational and socioeconomic instability, and changes in caregiving responsibilities.

Smartphone use

Given everything we know about how smartphones can interfere with sleep, it’s hardly surprising that smartphone use was identified as a significant factor. After all, you’re unlikely to get a good night’s sleep if your brain is wired from too many hours spent scrolling through social media—or if you’re constantly being awakened in the middle of the night by random smartphone alerts and notifications.

Increased occupational and socioeconomic instability

It’s hard to fall asleep and stay asleep when you’re stressed about pretty much everything. Adults who entered midlife during and after the Great Recession of 2008 encountered a vastly different economic situation than the generations who came before them. As the authors of this study note: "The Great Recession fundamentally restructured the U.S. economy, leading to substantially decreased wealth, increased inequality, comparably more precious working conditions, fewer financial resources, more financial stress, all of which are associated with worse sleeping patterns."

Changes in caregiving responsibilities

While midlife adults have always carried a heavy load on the caregiving front, the Great Recession tended to intensify those caregiving responsibilities. Their young adult children were increasingly likely to be living with them—the result of escalating financial pressures—and their aging parents were more likely to be living longer, leading to an increased need for support and care. The net result has been an increased time crunch for members of an already time-stressed generation—something that’s made it even harder to get a good night’s sleep. As the authors of this study point out, "Caregiving responsibilities can not only lead to less time and resources to be able to devote to sleep but also increased stress, collectively undercutting sleep quality and duration."

Why sleep matters

While we might have a tendency to treat sleep as a luxury, it’s actually the glue that holds everything together. Our bodies do some of their most important maintenance and repair work when we’re asleep. Chronic sleep deprivation can damage our physical and mental health, increase our risk of accidents, make it harder for us to think clearly and focus our attention, reduce our ability to regulate our emotions, and impair our ability to function well at home and at work. And because our sleep quality tends to deteriorate anyway as we age, anything that impairs our ability to get the sleep we need at midlife can have dire consequences over time.

That’s why the researchers involved in the study are highlighting the urgency of dealing with this emerging crisis—one that is "likely to have significant implications for the well-being and longevity of the current generation of midlife adults" as well as the generations following in their footsteps. They hope that policymakers, clinicians, and researchers will see it for what it is: a "canary in a coal mine" hinting at what’s at stake.

Written by: Ann Douglas, author, “Navigating the Messy Middle: A Fiercely Honest and Wildly Encouraging Guide to Midlife Women, for Psychology Today.