Nature and Science of Sleep (Mar 2024)

Associations Between Repetitive Negative Thinking and Objective and Subjective Sleep Health in Cognitively Healthy Older Adults

  • Munns LB,
  • Demnitz-King H,
  • André C,
  • Rehel S,
  • Ourry V,
  • de La Sayette V,
  • Vivien D,
  • Chételat G,
  • Rauchs G,
  • Marchant NL

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 233 – 245

Abstract

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Lydia B Munns,1,2,* Harriet Demnitz-King,1,* Claire André,3 Stéphane Rehel,3 Valentin Ourry,3 Vincent de La Sayette,4 Denis Vivien,3,5 Gaël Chételat,3 Géraldine Rauchs,3,* Natalie L Marchant1,* On behalf of the Medit-Ageing Research Group1Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK; 2Department of Psychology, York University, York, UK; 3Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Neuropresage Team, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France; 4Service de Neurologie, CHU de Caen-Normandie, Caen, France; 5Département de Recherche Clinique, CHU Caen-Normandie, Caen, France*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Natalie L Marchant, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK, Email [email protected] Lydia B Munns, Department of Psychology, York University, York, United Kingdom, Email [email protected]: Poor sleep and high levels of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), including future-directed (ie, worry) and past-directed (ie, brooding) negative thoughts, have been associated with markers of dementia risk. The relationship between RNT and sleep health in older adults is unknown. This study aimed to investigate this association and its specificities including multiple dimensions of objective and subjective sleep.Methods: This study used a cross sectional quantitative design with baseline data from 127 cognitively healthy older adults (mean age 69.4 ± 3.8 years; 63% female) who took part in the Age-Well clinical trial, France. RNT (ie, worry and brooding) levels were measured using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and the Rumination Response Scale (brooding subscale). Polysomnography was used to assess sleep objectively, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the St. Mary’s Hospital Sleep Questionnaire were used to measure sleep subjectively. In primary analyses the associations between RNT and sleep (ie, objective sleep duration, fragmentation and efficiency and subjective sleep disturbance) were assessed via adjusted regressions. Results: Higher levels of RNT were associated with poorer objective sleep efficiency (worry: β=− 0.32, p< 0.001; brooding: β=− 0.26, p=0.002), but not objective sleep duration, fragmentation, or subjective sleep disturbance. Additional analyses, however, revealed differences in levels of worry between those with short, compared with typical and long objective sleep durations (p < 0.05).Conclusion: In cognitively healthy older adults, RNT was associated with sleep characteristics that have been implicated in increased dementia risk. It will take additional research to ascertain the causal link between RNT and sleep characteristics and how they ultimately relate to the risk of developing dementia.Keywords: perseverative cognition, rumination, sleep, anxiety, ageing

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