Center for Sleep and Cognition, Psychiatry Department, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA; Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA.
Sleep Health. 2022 Dec;8(6):571-579. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2022.08.009. Epub 2022 Oct 22.
Major sociopolitical events can influence the general public's affective state and other affect-related processes, such as sleep. Here, we investigated the extent that the 2020 US presidential election impacted sleep, public mood, and alcohol consumption. We also explored the relationship between affect and sleep changes during the peak period of election stress.
US-residing (n = 437) and non-US-residing (n = 106) participants were recruited online for participation in the study.
A non-representative, convenience sample responded to daily assessments of their affect, sleep, and alcohol consumption during a baseline period (October 1-13, 2020) and in the days surrounding the 2020 US Election (October 30-November 12, 2020).
Analyses determined changes within and between US and non-US participants. Election Day evoked significantly reduced sleep amount and efficiency, coupled with heightened stress, negative affect, and increased alcohol use. While US participants were significantly more impacted in a number of domains, non-US participants also reported reduced sleep and greater stress compared to baseline. Across participants, disrupted sleep on Election Night correlated with changes in emotional well-being and alcohol consumption on Election Day.
These results suggest that major sociopolitical events can have global impacts on sleep that may interact with significant fluctuations in public mood and well-being. Further, while the largest impact is on the local population, these results suggest that the effects can extend beyond borders. These findings highlight the potential impact of future sociopolitical events on public well-being.
重大社会政治事件会影响公众的情感状态和其他与情感相关的过程，例如睡眠。在这里，我们研究了 2020 年美国总统大选对睡眠、公众情绪和酒精消费的影响程度。我们还探讨了在选举压力高峰期，情感和睡眠变化之间的关系。
通过在线招募，有美国居住史的（n=437）和无美国居住史的（n=106）参与者参与了这项研究。
采用非代表性便利样本，在基线期（2020 年 10 月 1 日至 13 日）和 2020 年美国总统大选前后几天（2020 年 10 月 30 日至 11 月 12 日）对参与者的情感、睡眠和酒精摄入进行每日评估。
分析确定了美国和非美国参与者在内部和之间的变化。选举日导致睡眠时间和效率显著减少，同时伴随着压力、负面情绪增加和饮酒量增加。虽然美国参与者在许多方面受到的影响更大，但与基线相比，非美国参与者的睡眠也减少了，压力也更大。在所有参与者中，选举之夜的睡眠中断与选举日情绪健康和饮酒量的变化相关。
这些结果表明，重大社会政治事件可能会对睡眠产生全球性影响，而这些影响可能会与公众情绪和幸福感的显著波动相互作用。此外，虽然最大的影响是在当地人口中，但这些结果表明，这些影响可能会超出国界。这些发现强调了未来社会政治事件对公众福祉的潜在影响。
