How does Austria sleep? Sleeping habits and sleep problems before and during Corona

Abstract

In the talk I discuss the sleeping habits and sleep problems before and during the Corona pandemic. An alarming increase in sleep problems from 6-year-old primary school children to adolescents and older adults is shown. Half of the interviewed adult Austrians (N=968) sleep less than 7 hours and only 31% classify themselves as "good sleepers". Changes due to the Corona pandemic and lockdown measures are also found across different cultural groups (Austria/Germany, Brazil, Greece, Cuba, Ukraine) and show, on the one hand, a high level of anxiety due to the pandemic (78% of respondents). In addition, in non-system-relevant jobs we see a consistent later going to bed and an extension of sleep times on working days (13 min daily), which in total lead to a reduced "social jetlag". People in system-relevant jobs also go to bed later and get up later, but show no increase in sleep time on weekdays and even a reduction in sleep time on days off (cf. Florea et al., 2021); overall, they also show a reduction in social jetlag, albeit to a lesser extent. We find cultural differences only of a general nature in the sense that people in Greece and Ukraine go to bed and get up later than the other cultural groups studied. Among children and adolescents (N= 2,232), we find 74.8% less physical activity during the Corona pandemic, 44.2% less exposure to daylight and 85% a strong increase in smartphone/tablet use during the pandemic or lock-downs. In addition, a shift of the sleep-wake rhythm to later times (for 94%) & more bedtime, and yet a subjective deterioration in sleep quality is also evident in that data. An alarming number of 33.3-45.3% depending on the age group now even subjectively report sleep problems during the pandemic (cf. Bothe et al., in preparation).Copyright © 2022