The Impact of the 2016 US General Election on Adult Sleep in Seattle, WA

Abstract

Objectives: This study used data from an ongoing sleep study to assess whether the sleep of adults in Seattle, WA was affected by the US general election in November 2016. Furthermore, this study assessed whether any observable difference in sleep was moderated by family race, participant age, or study arm. Methods: Fixed effects multilevel regression models were used to analyze time period as a predictor of sleep duration and sleep onset latency within participants as well as after stratifying by race, age group, study arm, and study arm X race. Season was included as a time-varying covariate. Results: Study participants slept 8.8 minutes (95% CI 1.6 to 16.0) less per night in the post-election period between November 8, 2016 and February 28, 2017 as compared to the baseline period of October 14, 2014 – June 30, 2016, after controlling for seasonal effects. Sleep loss was most pronounced in the youngest group (ages 24-32): 21.7 minutes (95% CI 1.2 - 42.1) less in the post-election period than during baseline. We also observe a trend towards increased sleep loss among those who identify as US underrepresented minorities; however, these results were not statistically significant (p = 0.16). Importantly, the intervention appears to have a protective effect against the loss of sleep incurred around the election; the control group lost more sleep than the intervention group, 11.6 minutes (95%CI 0.6 to 22.6) as compared to 6.9 minutes (95% CI +2.8 to -16.5). Discussion: This study suggests that large scale political events have an impact on adult sleep in the short term, an effect which can be buffered somewhat by family-centered sleep health interventions.