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Effects of lifestyle, personality, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and genetic predisposition on subjective sleep disturbance and sleep pattern

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Andrew C Heath
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri.
Lindon J Eaves
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Katherine M Kirk
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Nicholas G Martin*
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia. [email protected]
*
*Correspondence Dr NG Martin, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Post Office, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane QLD 4029 Australia. Tel: + 61 7 3362 0278; Fax: + 61 7 3362 0101

Abstract

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The effects on sleep pattern (‘short-sleep’ versus ‘long-sleep’) and subjective sleep disturbance of genotype, personality, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and lifestyle, were examined using survey data on a clinically unselected sample of adult Australian twin pairs, aged 17–88 years. When the effects of genotype, personality and symptoms were ignored, lifestyle variables appeared to account for roughly 4% of the variance in sleep disturbance, and 9% of the variance in sleep pattern. Significant genetic effects on sleep disturbance and sleep pattern were found, which were only partly explained by the effects of personality and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Much of the association between sleep disturbance and lifestyle appeared to be explained by separate effects of personality and symptoms of anxiety and depression on sleep and lifestyle (‘genotype – risk-factor correlation’). There was little evidence for genetically determined differences in sensitivity to the lifestyle variables (‘genotype × risk-factor interaction’).

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998