Rodin J, McAvay G, Timko C
Yale University, Department of Psychology, New Haven, CT 06520.
J Gerontol. 1988 Mar;43(2):P45-53. doi: 10.1093/geronj/43.2.p45.
Previous studies have suggested that depression might be more strongly related to sleep disturbances in older than in younger individuals. However, few of these studies have simultaneously considered variables other than depression that have been demonstrated to influence the sleep of elderly persons, and none has examined the relationship between depression and sleep longitudinally. The present study examined the association between frequency of depressed mood, using the Depression Adjective Checklist (DACL), and self-reports of four sleep problems over a 3-year period in a sample of community-residing elderly persons. Results showed that frequency of depressed affect was related positively to sleep disturbance, even when subjects' age, gender, and health status were considered simultaneously. Early morning awakening was the sleep symptom that most consistently related to depressed mood over the course of the study. Poor health and female gender showed positive but less consistent relationships to the sleep complaints than depressed affect. Research on biological mechanisms underlying the disturbed sleep of elderly depressed individuals is discussed.
以往的研究表明，相较于年轻人，抑郁症可能与老年人的睡眠障碍联系更为紧密。然而，这些研究中很少有同时考虑除抑郁症之外其他已被证明会影响老年人睡眠的变量，并且没有一项研究纵向考察抑郁症与睡眠之间的关系。本研究在一个社区居住的老年人群样本中，使用抑郁形容词检查表（DACL）考察了抑郁情绪频率与四项睡眠问题的自我报告在三年期间的关联。结果显示，即使同时考虑受试者的年龄、性别和健康状况，抑郁情绪的频率与睡眠障碍呈正相关。在研究过程中，早醒是与抑郁情绪最始终相关的睡眠症状。健康状况不佳和女性性别与睡眠问题的关系呈正相关，但不如抑郁情绪那么始终如一。本文还讨论了老年抑郁症患者睡眠障碍潜在生物学机制的研究。
