Savings and Consumption When Children Move Out

Based on the Italian Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) and the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP), we show that household consumption drops after a child moves out of a household, while at the same time, per capita consumption increases significantly. Parents approximately upgrade their personal lifestyle up to the level of childless peers after all children are gone and save only a small proportion of the freed-up resources. Since parents had fewer resources to save while they were young, retirement preparedness among them is a more serious concern than among childless individuals

Sleep characteristics across the lifespan in 1.1 million people from the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States: a systematic review and meta-analysis

How long does the average person sleep? Here, Kocevska et al. conducted a meta-analysis including over 1.1 million people to produce age- and sex-specific population reference charts for sleep duration and efficiency.We aimed to obtain reliable reference charts for sleep duration, estimate the prevalence of sleep complaints across the lifespan and identify risk indicators of poor sleep. Studies were identified through systematic literature search in Embase, Medline and Web of Science (9 August 2019) and through personal contacts. Eligible studies had to be published between 2000 and 2017 with data on sleep assessed with questionnaires including >= 100 participants from the general population. We assembled individual participant data from 200,358 people (aged 1-100 years, 55% female) from 36 studies from the Netherlands, 471,759 people (40-69 years, 55.5% female) from the United Kingdom and 409,617 people (>= 18 years, 55.8% female) from the United States. One in four people slept less than age-specific recommendations, but only 5.8% slept outside of the 'acceptable' sleep duration. Among teenagers, 51.5% reported total sleep times (TST) of less than the recommended 8-10 h and 18% report daytime sleepiness. In adults (>= 18 years), poor sleep quality (13.3%) and insomnia symptoms (9.6-19.4%) were more prevalent than short sleep duration (6.5% with TST = 9 h in bed, whereas poor sleep quality was more frequent in those spending = 41 years) reported sleeping shorter times or slightly less efficiently than men, whereas with actigraphy they were estimated to sleep longer and more efficiently than man. This study provides age- and sex-specific population reference charts for sleep duration and efficiency which can help guide personalized advice on sleep length and preventive practices.Pathophysiology, epidemiology and therapy of agein

Aggressive intentions after social exclusion and their association with loneliness

Both social exclusion and loneliness are aversive experiences that can lead to hostile behavioral reactions, including aggressive behavior. This study aimed to assess whether a social exclusion scenario in the subject's imagination elicits aggressive reactions towards an excluding person as measured with the hot sauce paradigm. Furthermore, we studied the effect of loneliness on such reactions. In total, 251 subjects (67.7% female;mean age 27.3 +/- 9.3 years) participated in this study which was based on an online survey. After trait loneliness was assessed with the UCLA Loneliness scale at baseline, two imaginary scenarios were presented in randomized order, i.e., an exclusion condition (with one of two working colleagues excluding the participant from a social activity) and an inclusion condition (without exclusion). Following each scenario, participants had the task to allocate the amount of hot sauce to each colleague that they find appropriate. Participants distributed significantly more hot sauce to the excluder than to the includers. The amount of hot sauce was significantly correlated with loneliness for all includer interactions (i.e., after the inclusion as well as the exclusion scenario), but not for the interaction with the excluder. Our results support the hypothesis that social exclusion elicits aggressive behavior. Interestingly, the experience of loneliness seems to be associated with an increase in aggressive behavioral tendencies or a lack of their inhibition. The cognitive and/or emotional processes underlying the interplay between social exclusion, loneliness and aggression should be a focus of future research

Association of loneliness and social network size in adulthood with childhood maltreatment: Analyses of a population-based and a clinical sample

Background Perceived loneliness and objective social network size are related but distinct factors, which negatively affect mental health and are prevalent in patients who have experienced childhood maltreatment (CM), for example, patients with persistent depressive disorder (PDD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). This cross-diagnostic study investigated whether loneliness, social network size, or both are associated with self-reported CM. Methods Loneliness and social network size were assessed in a population-based sample at two time points (Study 1, N = 509), and a clinical group of patients with PDD or BPD (Study 2, N = 190) using the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Social Network Index. Further measures were the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and standard depression rating scales. Linear regression analyses were applied to compare associations of loneliness or social network size with CM. Multiple mediation analyses were used to test the relative importance of loneliness and social network size in the relationship between CM and depressive symptoms. Results In both studies, loneliness showed a stronger association than social network size with CM. This was particularly marked for emotional neglect and emotional abuse. Loneliness but not social network size mediated the relationship between CM and depressive symptoms. Conclusions Loneliness is particularly associated with self-reported CM, and in this respect distinct from the social network size. Our results underline the importance of differentiating both psychosocial constructs and suggest focusing on perceived loneliness and its etiological underpinnings by mechanism-based psychosocial interventions

Sleep characteristics across the lifespan in 1.1 million people from the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States:a systematic review and meta-analysis

We aimed to obtain reliable reference charts for sleep duration, estimate the prevalence of sleep complaints across the lifespan and identify risk indicators of poor sleep. Studies were identified through systematic literature search in Embase, Medline and Web of Science (9 August 2019) and through personal contacts. Eligible studies had to be published between 2000 and 2017 with data on sleep assessed with questionnaires including ≥100 participants from the general population. We assembled individual participant data from 200,358 people (aged 1-100 years, 55% female) from 36 studies from the Netherlands, 471,759 people (40-69 years, 55.5% female) from the United Kingdom and 409,617 people (≥18 years, 55.8% female) from the United States. One in four people slept less than age-specific recommendations, but only 5.8% slept outside of the 'acceptable' sleep duration. Among teenagers, 51.5% reported total sleep times (TST) of less than the recommended 8-10 h and 18% report daytime sleepiness. In adults (≥18 years), poor sleep quality (13.3%) and insomnia symptoms (9.6-19.4%) were more prevalent than short sleep duration (6.5% with TST < 6 h). Insomnia symptoms were most frequent in people spending ≥9 h in bed, whereas poor sleep quality was more frequent in those spending <6 h in bed. TST was similar across countries, but insomnia symptoms were 1.5-2.9 times higher in the United States. Women (≥41 years) reported sleeping shorter times or slightly less efficiently than men, whereas with actigraphy they were estimated to sleep longer and more efficiently than man. This study provides age- and sex-specific population reference charts for sleep duration and efficiency which can help guide personalized advice on sleep length and preventive practices