Effects of loneliness and social support on sleep in China: role of COVID-19 vaccination perceptions

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide imposed mitigation measures that kept people home to reduce virus transmission. Loneliness due to the measures, anxieties associated with the pandemic, and the lack of outdoor activities led to deteriorated sleep health. This paper investigates the factors associated with sleep time and health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online questionnaires were distributed to residents in Beijing, Wuhan, and Changsha, with 1,901 valid responses. Ordered logistic regressions were used to model sleep attributes. We included indicators of loneliness and social support and analyzed how the perception of COVID-19 vaccination alleviates sleep problems. We conclude that (1) the pandemic affected sleep health, and respondents who lacked emotional support and life companionship had worse sleep health; (2) perception related to vaccination mitigated the impact of the pandemic on sleep; (3) community-wide impacts of COVID-19 also affect sleep health.