Good sleep quality shields older adults from depressive symptoms linked to isolation: Comparing online and in-person social connections.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the role of sleep quality in the link between social connections and depressive symptoms among older adults.

METHODS

A total of 1,230 older adults participated in this study following the lifting of the lockdown. Network analysis and random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) were conducted to examine the relationship between social connections and depressive symptoms. A multi-group RI-CLPM analysis identified potential differences in this relationship between good and poor sleepers in the context of online and in-person social connections.

RESULTS

The results showed a stable interrelationship between social connections and depressive symptoms in older adults. Sleep quality moderated this association across temporal responses in online but not in-person social connections.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the urgency of addressing the adverse influence of lockdown by facilitating in-person social connections and improving the sleep quality among individuals with limited online social interactions to protect against depression.