(Teddy Amenabar/ Washington Post) — Short sleepers — those who regularly get five or fewer hours of sleep at night — may be at a higher risk of developing depression symptoms, according to a study published Thursday.
Researchers examined the health data of 7,146 individuals, age 50 and older in England, and found that older adults who sleep five or fewer hours a night — either because of a genetic predisposition or other reasons — were more likely to show signs of depression years later. The researchers followed the study participants for an average of eight years.
Compared with people who sleep seven hours a night, older adults who reported five or fewer hours on average were 2.5 times more likely to develop symptoms of depression later in life. Those who were genetically predisposed to short sleep were 14 percent more likely to develop symptoms of depression years later in life.
Too much sleep was a problem, too. Older adults who reported sleeping more than nine hours were 1.5 times more likely to develop symptoms of depression later in life, as compared with those who slept an average of seven hours. (…)