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July 3, 2019

Survey: Causes of Good and Bad Sleep

Top Factors That Impact Americans' Quality of Sleep

Research

Discover the factors that positively and negatively impact sleep in America.

Methodology

2,000 surveys were fielded between April 10-18, 2019, among a representative sample of U.S. adults (age 18+), using a questionnaire lasting approximately 15 minutes. Sample size provides a confidence interval of ±2.19% at 95%. The sample was provided by Dynata, one of the largest online sample providers in the country.

Respondent Profile

 

Gender % Age % Generation %   Region %
Male 49% 18-24 14% Gen Z (18-22) 8% South 37%
Female 51% 25-34 19% Millennials (23-38) 32% Midwest 23%
35-44 18% Gen X (39-54) 28% Northeast 21%
45-54 17% Boomers (55-73) 27% West 19%
55+ 32% Silents (74+) 5%

Driver Analysis

To identify the factors that are key drivers of sleep quality, a driver – or importance – analysis was conducted using Shapley regression. Similar to multiple regression, the technique estimates which variables best predict sleep quality. The technique is preferred when identifying the impact of potential drivers because it removes the correlation between variables (multicollinearity), which can understate or overstate the importance of some factors.

Factors analyzed included sleep environment, behavior before bed and in the bedroom, personal finances, relationships, hobbies, work environment, and feelings about current affairs.

The following provides the top, most significant factors that impact quality of sleep.

Factors That Most Negatively Impact Sleep In America

  1. Stress
  2. Physical pain
  3. Personal finances
  4. Social isolation/loneliness

Stress

  • By and large, stress is the leading driver of poor sleep quality. People who rated their sleep as poor are nearly 4 times more likely to have felt stress very often in the past two weeks prior to taking the survey compared to those who rated their sleep as excellent (they make up 27% of self-rated poor sleepers vs. 7% of self-rated excellent sleepers).

Physical Pain

Those who rated their sleep as poor:

  • Are over 2 times more likely to have recently experienced pain when sitting or standing compared to those who rated their sleep as excellent (they make up 42% of self-rated poor sleepers vs. 18% of self-rated excellent sleepers)
  • Are over 2.5 times more likely to have recently experienced pain when lying down compared to those who rated their sleep as excellent (they make up 32% of self-rated poor sleepers vs. 12% of self-rated excellent sleepers)

 Personal Finances

Those who rated their sleep as poor:

  • Are 1.4 times more likely to live paycheck to paycheck compared to those who rated their sleep as excellent (they make up 60% of self-rated poor sleepers vs. 42% of self-rated excellent sleepers)
  • Are 1.3 times more likely to be concerned about their own financial future compared to those who rated their sleep as excellent (they make up 75% of self-rated poor sleepers vs. 56% of self-rated excellent sleepers)

Isolation/Loneliness

  • Those who frequently wake up feeling tired in the morning are over 2 times more likely to have difficulty being in social situations compared to those who rarely/never wake up feeling tired (they make up 42% of those who are frequently tired in the morning vs. 18% of those who rarely/never wake up feeling tired in the morning)
  • Those who frequently wake up feeling tired in the morning are over 1.5 times more likely to want to go out, but don’t have anyone to go out with – compared to those who rarely/never wake up feeling tired (they make up 37% of those who are frequently tired in the morning vs. 22% of those who rarely/never wake up feeling tired in the morning)

 Factors That Most Positively Impact Sleep In America

  1. Hours of sleep
  2. Personal finances
  3. Social life
  4. Staying current with the news and enjoying it

 Hours of Sleep

  • Those who rated their sleep as excellent are over 2 times more likely to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night compared to those who rated their sleep as poor (they make up 72% of self-rated excellent sleepers vs. 34% of self-rated poor sleepers)

Personal Finances

Those who rated their sleep as excellent:

  • Are nearly 2 times more likely to regularly save for retirement and/or unforeseen medical expenses compared to those who rated their sleep as poor (they make up 55% and 50% of self-rated excellent sleepers vs. 32% and 26% of self-rated poor sleepers, respectively)
  • Are over 1.5 times more likely to buy what they want when they want it compared to those who rated their sleep as poor (they make up 54% of self-rated excellent sleepers vs. 33% of self-rated poor sleepers)

Social Life

  • People who rated their sleep as excellent are 1.2 times more likely to have deep, meaningful friendships with people outside of their family compared to those who rated their sleep as poor (they make up 61% of self-rated excellent sleepers vs. 52% of self-rated poor sleepers)

Staying Current with the News and Enjoying it

  • People who rated their sleep as excellent are 1.2 times more likely to enjoy staying current with the news (watch/listen to/read the news daily) compared to those who rated their sleep as poor (they make up 59% of self-rated excellent sleepers vs. 49% of self-rated poor sleepers)

A Few differences between Men and Women

 Results pointed to differences between men and women. Stress and personal finances are affecting women’s sleep more than men’s.

Stress

  • Women who rated their sleep as poor are over 1.5 times more likely to have felt stress very often in the past two weeks prior to taking the survey, compared to men who rated their sleep as poor. Among women who rated their sleep as poor, 33% had felt stress very often in the two weeks preceding the survey vs. 20% of men.

Personal Finances

  • Women who rated their sleep as poor are 1.5 times more likely to indicate they completely agree that they live paycheck to paycheck, compared to men who rate their sleep as poor. Among women who rated their sleep as poor, 41% completely agree that they live paycheck to paycheck vs. 27% of men.

Survey Details: Better Sleep Council June 2019

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