AGE ANXIETY SLEEP CORRELATION 1 Age Anxiety and Sleep Disturbances Correlations Joy M Volkmann University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Abstract AGE ANXIETY SLEEP CORRELATION 2 Anxiety is the most prominent mental health illness in the United States with 42 million individuals or 18 1 of the adult population diagnosed National Alliance of Mental Illness As a disorder worsened by increases in stressors like sleep disturbances it is important to understand how stressors interact with anxiety Sleep disturbances can be described as changes in sleeping patterns that may influence a person s overall health and well being Both issues previously mentioned can be seen across all age groups and may be more prominent in one age group than others for a variety of reasons This study investigates the relationship between all three aspects of anxiety sleep disturbances and age and how they correlate with one another It was predicted that anxiety would strongly correlate with sleep disturbances Also expected was a negative correlation between anxiety and age and similarly with sleep disturbances and age Through a mobile device 1099 participants completed a survey consisting of several questionnaires starting with simple demographic questions and followed by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 and the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Short Form 8b The predicted correlation between anxiety and sleep disturbances was supported by the hypothesis as were both predictions of the negative correlations between anxiety and age and sleep disturbances and age Key words age anxiety and sleep disturbances Age Anxiety and Sleep Disturbances Correlations AGE ANXIETY SLEEP CORRELATION 3 The importance of mental health has become increasingly more prevalent in recent years Our society has become more accepting and open to discussing their own issues related to mental health and how it affects their everyday life With this greater strides have been taken to understand how these mental illnesses correlate with and or influence other stressors that we may experience This study consists of research observing the common mental illness anxiety and its correlation with sleep disturbances The study also considers the relationship that these factors anxiety and sleep disturbances have across different age groups to see if this relationship is stronger with certain age groups more than others The results of this study will aid mental health professionals across the board due to the knowledge gained from the presented connections which will therefore improve the way that they help and care for their patients that have anxiety and experience sleep disturbances The most important aspect of correlational studies is to determine the relationships between a set of variables and then describe them This concept is presented in several research sources referenced in this study To observe how differences in age correlate with anxiety research by Mahoney et al 2015 consists of five hundred survey responses of participants ranging from young adult ages to older adults regarding their anxiety levels The findings of this study show that younger adults have significantly higher levels of anxiety and emotional avoidance than older adults This research indicates that there is a relationship between age and anxiety Beiter et al 2015 conducted a survey in which researchers provided college students aged 18 24 with various questionnaires to determine their relationship with anxiety and its effects The research findings concluded that there was a strong correlation in mental illness specifically anxiety with college students and that there were several stressors that were further inducing this relationship such as academics and social life Therefore certain age groups may have a stronger correlation to anxiety more so than others AGE ANXIETY SLEEP CORRELATION 4 Comparable to the study mentioned in the previous paragraph Sexton and Hartley 2013 also conducted a study that observes college students aged between eighteen to twenty years old But while Beiter et al 2015 studies the relationship students have with anxiety Sexton and Hartley 2013 examine students relationship with sleep The research consisted of surveying students occupying shared sleeping areas like residence halls and dormitories and what they have experienced since living and sleeping in these conditions A substantial portion of the research participants reported trouble sleeping due to a variety of reasons such as light and noise levels With this said this study provides a clearer indication of the relationship of age and sleep disturbances In terms of the relationship between sleep disturbances and anxiety Mason and Harvey 2018 found that it is possible for the sleep disorder insomnia to cause mental health issues including anxiety This study consisted of over two hundred participants in which they were evaluated in terms of their differing symptoms of sleep disturbances Following the participants partook in cognitive behavioral therapy specifically focused on treating anxiety The results of this study concluded that participants who had insomnia experienced more anxiety symptoms than those who did not Though this study is limited to only one form of sleep disturbance being insomnia it provides researchers further insight concerning overall sleep disturbance and its connection to anxiety Understanding that anxiety and sleep disturbances can be prevalent in all age groups is important to consider and the study conducted by Weiner et al 2015 lengthens the age range of the previous sources mentioned to also include children ages 6 17 This study mentions that children and adolescents who suffer from sleeping problems may develop psychological and or physical issues or may be subjected to worsened behavioral and mental issues if they are already present With this the researchers conducted a study to examine the relationship between AGE ANXIETY SLEEP CORRELATION sleeping problems and anxiety levels in over one hundred participants aged six through 5 seventeen The results show that participants with higher anxiety levels experienced more issues sleeping and thus corresponding with the studies previously mentioned regarding the relationship of sleep and anxiety From the previous research studies mentioned above understanding the relationship amongst age anxiety and sleep disturbances is crucial for the medical and psychological field and therefore holds a