The pivotal role of sleep in mediating the effects of life stressors and healthy habits on allostatic load in mid-life adults

Ingrid Buller-Peralta; Sarah Gregory; Audrey Low; Maria-Eleni Dounavi; Katie Bridgeman; Georgios Ntailianis; Brian Lawlor; Lorina Naci; Ivan Koychev; Paresh Malhotra; John T O'Brien; Craig W Ritchie; Yves Dauvilliers; Graciela Muniz-Terrera

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223

The pivotal role of sleep in mediating the effects of life stressors and healthy habits on allostatic load in mid-life adults

Ingrid Buller-Peralta^*, Sarah Gregory, Audrey Low, Maria-Eleni Dounavi, Katie Bridgeman, Georgios Ntailianis, Brian Lawlor, Lorina Naci, Ivan Koychev, Paresh Malhotra, John T O'Brien, Craig W Ritchie, Yves Dauvilliers, Graciela Muniz-Terrera

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Objectives: We assessed the modulation of allostatic load (AL) by engagement in healthy habits and life stressors, mediated through resilience and the perceived influence of the stressors. Sleep was included as third mediator given extensive evidence associating to all the analysed factors.

Methods: Structural equation models to assess the modulation of AL by either traumatic or psychosocial stressors and healthy habits were generated with data from 620 mid-life adults (age 51.3 ± 5.48 years). Model 1 included self-reported life stressors, engagement in cognitive and physical activities, resilience and a pyramid score for diet. In Model 2, self-reported sleep quality was included in the mediation analysis between resilience and perceived stress on AL.

Results: Direct effects of sports and diet on AL, and on resilience by sports were found in all the evaluated models. The modulation of AL by both types of stressors was only revealed in model 2, through indirect effects of perceived influence via sleep quality. An effect of sport habits on AL via resilience was found to be mediated by sleep, and equivalent but opposed effects of perceived influence of stressors and resilience on sleep quality emerged as critical factor for AL modulation.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that sleep plays a pivotal role in the modulation of AL by both life stressors and sport habits, balancing the harmful and protective effects of perceived stress and resilience. The relative weight of one over the other to worsen or improve sleep quality will determine the resulting level of AL.

Original language	English
Article number	1509223
Pages (from-to)	1-17
Number of pages	17
Journal	Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Volume	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223
Publication status	Published - 20 Dec 2024

Keywords

Allostatic load
Sleep quality
Cognitive activities
Healthy diet
Sports habits
Traumatic stressors
Psychosocial stressors
Resilience

Access to Document

10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223Licence: CC BY

Buller-Peralta-et-al-2025-Pivotal-role-of-sleep-FNHUM-18-1509223-CCBY
Copyright © 2024 Buller-Peralta, Gregory, Low, Dounavi, Bridgeman, Ntailianis, Lawlor, Naci, Koychev, Malhotra, O'Brien, Ritchie, Dauvilliers and Muniz-Terrera. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Final published version, 2.68 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Buller-Peralta, I., Gregory, S., Low, A., Dounavi, M.-E., Bridgeman, K., Ntailianis, G., Lawlor, B., Naci, L., Koychev, I., Malhotra, P., O'Brien, J. T., Ritchie, C. W., Dauvilliers, Y., & Muniz-Terrera, G. (2024). The pivotal role of sleep in mediating the effects of life stressors and healthy habits on allostatic load in mid-life adults. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18, 1-17. Article 1509223. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223

@article{8c4d8892511a4ff2bbeab4edfc7c74bd,

title = "The pivotal role of sleep in mediating the effects of life stressors and healthy habits on allostatic load in mid-life adults",

abstract = "Objectives: We assessed the modulation of allostatic load (AL) by engagement in healthy habits and life stressors, mediated through resilience and the perceived influence of the stressors. Sleep was included as third mediator given extensive evidence associating to all the analysed factors.Methods: Structural equation models to assess the modulation of AL by either traumatic or psychosocial stressors and healthy habits were generated with data from 620 mid-life adults (age 51.3 ± 5.48 years). Model 1 included self-reported life stressors, engagement in cognitive and physical activities, resilience and a pyramid score for diet. In Model 2, self-reported sleep quality was included in the mediation analysis between resilience and perceived stress on AL.Results: Direct effects of sports and diet on AL, and on resilience by sports were found in all the evaluated models. The modulation of AL by both types of stressors was only revealed in model 2, through indirect effects of perceived influence via sleep quality. An effect of sport habits on AL via resilience was found to be mediated by sleep, and equivalent but opposed effects of perceived influence of stressors and resilience on sleep quality emerged as critical factor for AL modulation.Conclusion: Our results suggest that sleep plays a pivotal role in the modulation of AL by both life stressors and sport habits, balancing the harmful and protective effects of perceived stress and resilience. The relative weight of one over the other to worsen or improve sleep quality will determine the resulting level of AL.",

keywords = "Allostatic load, Sleep quality, Cognitive activities, Healthy diet, Sports habits, Traumatic stressors, Psychosocial stressors, Resilience",

author = "Ingrid Buller-Peralta and Sarah Gregory and Audrey Low and Maria-Eleni Dounavi and Katie Bridgeman and Georgios Ntailianis and Brian Lawlor and Lorina Naci and Ivan Koychev and Paresh Malhotra and O'Brien, \{John T\} and Ritchie, \{Craig W\} and Yves Dauvilliers and Graciela Muniz-Terrera",

note = "Funding: The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. PREVENT is funded by the Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s Society (grant numbers 178, 264 and 329), Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s Association (grant number TriBEKa-17-519007) and philanthropic donations. IK declares funding for this work through the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Medical Research Council (Dementias Platform UK grant) and personal NIHR awards. SG receives salary from a Medical Research Council grant (MRC UK) Nutrition Research Partnership (NRP) Collaboration Award NuBrain (MR/ T001852/1). G.M-T acknowledges the support of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation through funding for the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. Research Endowment in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.",

year = "2024",

month = dec,

day = "20",

doi = "10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223",

language = "English",

volume = "18",

pages = "1--17",

journal = "Frontiers in Human Neuroscience",

issn = "1662-5161",

publisher = "Frontiers Media SA",

}

Buller-Peralta, I, Gregory, S, Low, A, Dounavi, M-E, Bridgeman, K , Ntailianis, G, Lawlor, B, Naci, L, Koychev, I, Malhotra, P, O'Brien, JT, Ritchie, CW, Dauvilliers, Y & Muniz-Terrera, G 2024, 'The pivotal role of sleep in mediating the effects of life stressors and healthy habits on allostatic load in mid-life adults', Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 18, 1509223, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223

TY - JOUR

T1 - The pivotal role of sleep in mediating the effects of life stressors and healthy habits on allostatic load in mid-life adults

AU - Buller-Peralta, Ingrid

AU - Gregory, Sarah

AU - Low, Audrey

AU - Dounavi, Maria-Eleni

AU - Bridgeman, Katie

AU - Ntailianis, Georgios

AU - Lawlor, Brian

AU - Naci, Lorina

AU - Koychev, Ivan

AU - Malhotra, Paresh

AU - O'Brien, John T

AU - Ritchie, Craig W

AU - Dauvilliers, Yves

AU - Muniz-Terrera, Graciela

N1 - Funding: The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. PREVENT is funded by the Alzheimer’s Society (grant numbers 178, 264 and 329), Alzheimer’s Association (grant number TriBEKa-17-519007) and philanthropic donations. IK declares funding for this work through the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Medical Research Council (Dementias Platform UK grant) and personal NIHR awards. SG receives salary from a Medical Research Council grant (MRC UK) Nutrition Research Partnership (NRP) Collaboration Award NuBrain (MR/ T001852/1). G.M-T acknowledges the support of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation through funding for the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. Research Endowment in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

PY - 2024/12/20

Y1 - 2024/12/20

N2 - Objectives: We assessed the modulation of allostatic load (AL) by engagement in healthy habits and life stressors, mediated through resilience and the perceived influence of the stressors. Sleep was included as third mediator given extensive evidence associating to all the analysed factors.Methods: Structural equation models to assess the modulation of AL by either traumatic or psychosocial stressors and healthy habits were generated with data from 620 mid-life adults (age 51.3 ± 5.48 years). Model 1 included self-reported life stressors, engagement in cognitive and physical activities, resilience and a pyramid score for diet. In Model 2, self-reported sleep quality was included in the mediation analysis between resilience and perceived stress on AL.Results: Direct effects of sports and diet on AL, and on resilience by sports were found in all the evaluated models. The modulation of AL by both types of stressors was only revealed in model 2, through indirect effects of perceived influence via sleep quality. An effect of sport habits on AL via resilience was found to be mediated by sleep, and equivalent but opposed effects of perceived influence of stressors and resilience on sleep quality emerged as critical factor for AL modulation.Conclusion: Our results suggest that sleep plays a pivotal role in the modulation of AL by both life stressors and sport habits, balancing the harmful and protective effects of perceived stress and resilience. The relative weight of one over the other to worsen or improve sleep quality will determine the resulting level of AL.

AB - Objectives: We assessed the modulation of allostatic load (AL) by engagement in healthy habits and life stressors, mediated through resilience and the perceived influence of the stressors. Sleep was included as third mediator given extensive evidence associating to all the analysed factors.Methods: Structural equation models to assess the modulation of AL by either traumatic or psychosocial stressors and healthy habits were generated with data from 620 mid-life adults (age 51.3 ± 5.48 years). Model 1 included self-reported life stressors, engagement in cognitive and physical activities, resilience and a pyramid score for diet. In Model 2, self-reported sleep quality was included in the mediation analysis between resilience and perceived stress on AL.Results: Direct effects of sports and diet on AL, and on resilience by sports were found in all the evaluated models. The modulation of AL by both types of stressors was only revealed in model 2, through indirect effects of perceived influence via sleep quality. An effect of sport habits on AL via resilience was found to be mediated by sleep, and equivalent but opposed effects of perceived influence of stressors and resilience on sleep quality emerged as critical factor for AL modulation.Conclusion: Our results suggest that sleep plays a pivotal role in the modulation of AL by both life stressors and sport habits, balancing the harmful and protective effects of perceived stress and resilience. The relative weight of one over the other to worsen or improve sleep quality will determine the resulting level of AL.

KW - Allostatic load

KW - Sleep quality

KW - Cognitive activities

KW - Healthy diet

KW - Sports habits

KW - Traumatic stressors

KW - Psychosocial stressors

KW - Resilience

U2 - 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223

DO - 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1509223

M3 - Article

C2 - 39758685

SN - 1662-5161

VL - 18

SP - 1

EP - 17

JO - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

M1 - 1509223

ER -

The pivotal role of sleep in mediating the effects of life stressors and healthy habits on allostatic load in mid-life adults

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this