Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42465890›Full record

ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2026

Poor sleep is robustly correlated with accelerated aging but the evidence for causation is mixed.

Ethan T Whitman, Aric A Prather, Julian Mutz, Louise Arseneault, David A A Baranger, Maxwell L Elliott, Helen L Fisher, David Ireland, Annchen R Knodt, Christoph Kositzke and 9 more

Abstract readPreprint
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Ethan T WhitmanDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Aric A PratherSchool of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Julian MutzSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Louise ArseneaultSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
David A A BarangerDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Maxwell L ElliottDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Helen L FisherSocial, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
David IrelandDunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Annchen R KnodtDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Christoph KositzkeDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Yue LengDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Aaron ReubenDepartment of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Karen SugdenDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Benjamin S WilliamsDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
J Kathy XieDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Allison YuanDivision of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Terrie E MoffittDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Avshalom CaspiDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Ahmad R HaririDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

Funding

Quantifying Individual Differences in Midlife Structural Brain Integrity Associated with Later AD/ADRD RiskR01AG049789 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI AHMAD R. HARIRI, TERRIE E MOFFITT · 2015 to 2026
$10.6M
Is mental disorder a preventable cause of age-related disease? The Dunedin Study.R01AG032282 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI CASPI, AVSHALOM, MOFFITT, TERRIE E · 2009 to 2025
$9.5M
Validating a 3rd-generation methylation measure of accelerated aging: DunedinPoAm4xR01AG073207 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI CASPI, AVSHALOM, MOFFITT, TERRIE E · 2022 to 2025
$2.9M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG032282NIA NIH HHS R01 AG049789NIA NIH HHS R01 AG073207
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sleep gets worse with age and is correlated with risk for disease and mortality. The possibility that poor sleep causes aging to accelerate has prompted interest in improving sleep to slow aging and prevent disease. However, the existing evidence on the link between poor sleep and accelerated aging is unclear. Here, we tested for correlation and causation between poor sleep and accelerated aging using five independent datasets of adults (total N > 64,000). We found strong evidence for a correlation between poor sleep and fast aging that is consistent across young, middle, and late adulthood and across aging biomarkers derived from different tissues and modalities. We found that this correlation is robust to the influence of chronic disease burden, but not to the influence of shared genetic and early environmental factors among twins. Finally, we found mixed evidence for a causal influence of poor sleep on accelerated aging using Mendelian randomization. Our findings indicate that the correlation between poor sleep and accelerated aging is highly robust; however, the claim that poor sleep causes aging to accelerate is not consistently supported.

Identifiers

PMID42465890
PMCPMC13370888

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.