Feeling older than your age linked to poorer sleep and worse daytime functioning

A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2026 annual meeting found that adults who feel older than their chronological age reported worse sleep outcomes, including more insomnia symptoms, greater sleep-related impairment, and lower sleep regularity, with those sleep outcomes in turn associated with poorer self-reported physical health.

Results show that the mismatch between how old a person feels and their actual age, known as age discrepancy, was a significant predictor of all sleep outcomes examined, even after accounting for chronological age, sex, race, depression, and anxiety. Adults who felt older than their years reported more insomnia symptoms, more sleep-related impairments, lower overall sleep health, and lower sleep regularity. Mediation analyses further found that higher age discrepancy was associated with poorer self-reported physical health indirectly through its associations with insomnia severity, sleep regularity, and sleep-related impairment.

“Adults who felt older than their actual age consistently reported poorer sleep outcomes, including more insomnia symptoms, less regular sleep, and greater daytime impairment,” said principal investigator Joseph M. Dzierzewski, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is senior vice president of research and scientific affairs at the National Sleep Foundation. “These associations remained significant even after accounting for chronological age, depression and anxiety.”

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, sleep is essential to health, and it requires adequate duration, good quality, appropriate timing and regularity, and the absence of sleep disturbances or disorders. Insomnia disorder is characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep and is associated with impaired daytime functioning and overall health.

The study involved 3,177 adults (mean age 42.8 years; 49% female) who completed an online survey that assessed subjective age, chronological age, insomnia severity, sleep health, sleep regularity, and sleep-related impairment. Participants also completed measures of depression, anxiety, and self-reported physical health. Age discrepancy was calculated as the difference between subjective and chronological age, divided by chronological age, with positive values indicating feeling older and negative values indicating feeling younger. Correlational and regression analyses examined associations between age discrepancy and sleep outcomes, and a parallel mediation analysis explored indirect effects on physical health through sleep variables.

Dzierzewski noted that the findings have implications not only for clinical care but also for public health messaging around aging and sleep.

“These findings suggest how people perceive their own aging may have important implications for sleep and overall well-being,” Dzierzewski said. “Understanding subjective age could help inform future approaches to support healthier sleep and quality of life across the lifespan.”

Who’s behind this story?

Gaby Clark

MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news.

Full profile →

Advertisements

Andrew Zinin

Master’s in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X’s editorial success.

Full profile →