ArticleInternational journal of behavioral medicine2021
Sleep Quality in Young Adult Informal Caregivers: Understanding Psychological and Biological Processes.
Article in International journal of behavioral medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental health of young informal carers: a systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Intergenerational caring: a systematic literature review on young and young adult caregivers of older people.BMC geriatrics · 2021Pooled it
- Exploring sleep-related problems among concerned others of individuals with mental health problems and/or problematic substance use: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Optimizing postoperative recovery in colorectal cancer patients through integrated psychological and nutritional interventions.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Article
- Supporting young carers in Canada.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2025Article
- Examination of the relationship between the empathic tendencies and sleep quality of caregivers of cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Development and psychometric evaluation of the self-care of informal caregivers inventory.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2024Article
- Sleep Composition of Patients With Colorectal Cancer and Their Sleep-Partner Caregivers: Physical Health Correlates of Sleep Diary and Actigraphy Measurements.Psycho-oncology · 2024Article
- Characterization of sleep efficiency transitions in family caregivers.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Article
- Exploring the Lived Experiences of Caregiving for Older Family Members by Young Caregivers in Singapore: Transition, Trials, and Tribulations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Perceived life balance among young adult students: a comparison between caregivers and non-caregivers.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- The relationship between burden and caregiver's sleep disturbances in dementia: a systematic review.Dementia & neuropsychologia · 2023Article
- Becoming a Caregiver: Experiences of Young Adults Moving into Family Caregiving Roles.Journal of adult development · 2022Article
- The Relationship Between Psychological Quality Education and Mental Health Level of College Students by Educational Psychology.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Clinical Psychological Figures in Healthcare Professionals: Resilience and Maladjustment as the "Cost of Care".Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundProviding informal care for a relative or friend with medical or mental needs can extol a physical burden on the caregiver, including impaired aspects of sleep quality such as suboptimal sleep duration, lengthened sleep latency, frequent awakenings, daytime sleepiness, and poor self-rated sleep quality. Diminished sleep quality can worsen the health in the caregiver, including dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) activity. Few studies have attempted to describe sleep in young adults who provide regular informal care. This study examines subjective and objective indicators of sleep quality and diurnal cortisol rhythms among young adult caregivers relative to non-caregiving peers. We expect that caregivers will exhibit poorer objective and subjective sleep quality and greater dysregulation in diurnal cortisol indices, than demographically similar non-caregivers, and that caregivers with poorer sleep will exhibit pronounced cortisol dysregulation.
methodsParticipant self-reported sleep quality over the prior month via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and objective sleep quality was observed via wrist actigraph for three consecutive days. Diurnal salivary cortisol was also measured across the three days of actigraph monitoring.
resultsInformal caregivers exhibited more self-reported sleep disturbance and greater sleep latency than non-caregivers, as well as more objectively measured sleep fragmentation. Caregivers with a shorter sleep duration were observed to have flatter diurnal cortisol slopes than caregivers with a relatively longer sleep duration.
conclusionsYoung adult caregivers appear to be at risk for impairment in sleep quality, which in turn might impact health through HPA axis dysregulation. Longitudinal research is needed to identify these relationships across time.
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Registered trials
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