New research in the Journal of Business and Psychology links financial stress to unhealthy bedtime habits and poorer sleep. The study followed full-time Army and Air National Guard service members over nine months as part of a Department of Defense funded project. Participants reported financial stress at the start, bedtime stress behaviours after four months, and sleep health five months later.
Researchers used both self-reported sleep measures and objective actigraph data from wrist devices. They found a clear sequence: economic stress predicted more cognitive and emotional activation at bedtime—lying awake feeling tense, replaying work problems, or mentally planning the next day. Elevated bedtime stress then predicted more insomnia symptoms, lower satisfaction with sleep, and greater daytime impairment.
The authors note that financial worry can affect people across income levels and that poor sleep harms attention, memory, and mood, which can hurt job performance. Rebecca Brossoit explains that stress before bed prevents people from unwinding and getting good-quality sleep. The paper recommends employer and policy supports such as better pay, supervisor support, financial planning resources, schedule flexibility, paid leave, and access to food and health care. Graduate student Destiny Castro led major data analysis and the work was supported by the DoD.
Difficult words
- stress — A feeling of worry or pressure.stressed, stressors, stress at bedtime
- quality — How good or bad something is.sleep quality
- financial — Related to money or personal finances.financial stress, financially
- insomnia — Difficulty in sleeping at night.insomnia symptoms
- advocate — To support or argue for something.advocate for change
- satisfaction — A feeling of happiness with something.sleep satisfaction
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- What strategies do you think could help reduce financial stress?
- How can better sleep improve overall well-being?
- What healthy sleep practices do you find most effective?
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