Nocturnal Awakening Associated with Greater Social Disconnectedness in Older Adults: The Compensatory Role of Cognition

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the association between sleep and social disconnectedness by examining the role of global cognitive function in diverse samples of older adults. METHODS: Study 1 compared differences in social disconnectedness between older adults with clinical sleep disorders and healthy sleepers. Studies 2 and 3 examined the relationship between objective sleep and social disconnectedness in community-dwelling older adults from two independent datasets. In the three studies, we analyzed the moderating effect of global cognitive function in the association between objective sleep and social disconnectedness. RESULTS: Study 1 showed that older adults with clinical sleep disorders had greater social disconnectedness, among whom those with better cognition showed less influence of sleep disorder on social disconnectedness. Studies 2 and 3 showed that nocturnal awakening was robustly associated with social disconnectedness in community-dwelling older adults. Global cognitive function moderated this association, counteracting the negative effect of nocturnal awakening on social function. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest a relationship between objective sleep, particularly nocturnal awakening, and social disconnectedness, and the compensatory role of global cognitive function. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Geriatric caregivers are encouraged to consider cognitive interventions to mitigate sleep-related, specifically excessive nocturnal awakening-related, social disconnectedness in older adults.