Objectives: To examine how social contact during daily activities differs by age and relates to sleep outcomes.
Methods: Fifty younger (M = 19.9 years, SD = 2.76) and 48 older (M = 67.6 years, SD = 6.63), community-dwelling adults completed the Social Rhythm Metric-17 and daily sleep diary online for 14 days.
Results: Younger adults completed a greater proportion of activities with active others than older adults. Age significantly interacted with the proportion of activities completed alone, β = -.77, p = .04. Alone activities negatively predicted total sleep time in older, not younger adults.
Discussion: Social contact, or lack thereof, is important for sleep, particularly for older adults who may be more prone to aloneness due to life course events.