LOOSING SLEEP OVER YOUR DIVORCE. YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE COULD SUFFER
Those who experience
persistent sleep problems after a divorce stand to suffer from more than just
dark circles. They might also be at risk for potentially harmful increases in
blood pressure, a new study finds
A growing body of
research links divorce to significant negative health effects and even early
death, yet few studies have looked at why that connection may exist.
Divorce-related sleep
troubles may be partly to blame, suggest the authors of a new study to be
published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Health Psychology.
"In the initial
few months after a separation, sleep problems are probably pretty normal, and
this is an adjustment process that people can typically cope with well,"
said UA associate professor of psychology David Sbarra, who co-authored the
paper with two of his former students -- lead author Kendra Krietsh and Ashley
Mason.
"But sleep
problems that persist for an extended period may mean something different. It
may mean that people are potentially becoming depressed, that they're
struggling with getting their life going again, and it is these people that are
particularly susceptible to health problems," Sbarra said.
The study looked at
138 people who had physically separated from or divorced their partner about 16
weeks before the start of the study.
Participants were
asked to report on their quality of sleep during three lab visits over a
seven-and-a-half-month period, using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which
takes into consideration sleep issues ranging from tossing and turning to
snoring to difficulty falling and staying asleep. Participants' blood pressure
also was measured at each of the three lab visits.
Although researchers
did not observe a relationship between sleep complaints and blood pressure
levels at the participants' first lab visits, they did observe a delayed
effect, with participants showing increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure
in later visits as a function of earlier sleep problems.
"We saw changes
in resting blood pressure were associated with sleep problems three months
earlier. Earlier sleep problems predicted increases in resting blood pressure
over time," Sbarra said.
In addition, the
researchers found that the longer peoples' sleep problems persisted after their
separation, the more likely those problems were to have an adverse effect on
blood pressure.
"What we found
was if you're having sleep problems up to about 10 weeks after your separation,
they don't appear to be associated with your future increase in blood
pressure," Sbarra said. "However, after 10 or so weeks -- after some
sustained period of time -- there seems to be a cumulative bad effect."
For people who have
high blood pressure to begin with, the increase is not to be taken lightly,
Sbarra noted.
"Each standard
deviation increase in sleep complaints corresponded to a roughly six unit
increase in subsequent systolic blood pressure," Sbarra said. "If
you're starting at the high average or low hypertensive range, this is a
nontrivial bump."
Systolic is the top
blood pressure number and measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart
beats; diastolic is the bottom number and measures the pressure in the arteries
between heartbeats. Normal blood pressure is around 120/80.
Lead study author
Krietsh -- who began exploring the link between divorce, sleep and blood
pressure as part of her honors thesis as a UA undergraduate -- suggests that
people who have persistent difficulties sleeping after a divorce address the
issue by seeking out cognitive behavioral therapy, making daily schedule
adjustments that promote healthy sleep, or finding new ways to relax at
bedtime.
"If somebody is
going through a divorce and unable to sleep, they really need to get some help
or it could lead to problems," said Krietsh, who earned her bachelor's
degree in psychology from the UA in 2012 and is now pursuing her doctorate in
clinical psychology at the University of Florida.
"We are all going
to go through something stressful in our lives, whether it's a divorce or
something else, Krietsh said, "and this shows how important it is for all
of to value sleep and take care of ourselves."
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