Gender Differences in Sleep Patterns
Experts suggest that most men and women need about seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Yet there are many differences in how men and women sleep. Women tend to sleep more on average but sleep less deeply and are more prone to sleep disorders, including insomnia. During their 20s and 30s, women also complain of being sleepy during the day, a possible symptom of the work/family responsibilities they face in this period.
Physiological reasons for gender differences in sleeping patterns
Physiologic changes in neuroendocrine hormones, body temperature, mood, and emotional state during puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause have profound effects on sleep quality, daytime functioning, and well-being in adolescent girls and adult women. It generally has been assumed that sleep prior to puberty is similar in girls and boys, and that sex differences first emerge during this developmental transition. However, since scientific studies have focused primarily on men, rather than women, the scientific basis for this assumption has not yet been established.
A recent study at the University of Pennsylvania found that individuals with higher socioeconomic status and education levels sleep better than those of lower socioeconomic status. The study also found that gender, younger age and being single negatively affect sleep. Women reported more sleep problems than men (22 percent versus 16 percent), especially between the ages of 40 and 65 years. Finally, more sleep problems were reported in people between the ages of 18 and 24 years than older people.
Insomnia
Insomnia is a condition of poor quality sleep: such as, for example, trouble falling asleep, waking up early or feeling unrested after a full night’s sleep. This occurs more often in women than in men and may be related to depression or other emotional complications. There is some research to suggest that insomnia and related symptoms may be associated with onset of menses. Insomnia related to menses may be related to a decrease in endogenous progesterone or a differential sensitivity to endogenous hormone fluctuations. Potential health consequences or disease risk that may result from this repetitive ‘incident’ insomnia that can occur every month for 40 years of a woman’s life are not known.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep Anea describes a condition where breathing is paused when tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway as you sleep. This occurs in about two percent of women. In a research study carried out on rats, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered that levels of oestrogen and serotonin affects breathing, with important consequences for sleep anea. More men, especially middle-aged men, suffer from sleep anea; possibly as a result of the different hormonal balance.
References
- Gender Differences Possible Root Of Sleep Disorder, 28.11.2001, Talk about sleep
- Socioeconomic Status, Gender And Marital Status Influence Sleep Disturbances, 10.6.2009, Science Daily.
- Sleep & Women, The American Academy of Sleep Science
- Sleep, Sex Differences, and Women’s Health, National Center on sleep Disorders Research
- Science shows that women need more sleep, 6.2.2010 Times Online.