A new study published in Sleep Health provides evidence that major political events, such as the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, can negatively impact sleep for a significant portion of the population. Survey data from a nationally representative sample showed that about 17% of American adults—roughly 45 million people—reported worse sleep during the campaign season. These sleep problems were not evenly distributed across the population, with older adults, racial and ethnic minorities, and those without children in the home more likely to be affected.
Although previous research has documented how election night itself can disrupt sleep patterns, the broader period leading up to elections—when campaign messaging dominates media coverage—has been largely overlooked. Stress caused by ongoing political developments can accumulate over time, potentially disturbing sleep well before ballots are cast.
Many Americans report feeling exhausted and angry when thinking about politics. According to Pew Research polling, nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults often feel worn out by current political discourse, and over half frequently feel angry. Given that stress is a well-known factor that contributes to poor sleep, the researchers set out to determine whether the extended presidential campaign season had measurable effects on sleep health across different segments of the population.
The researchers also wanted to explore whether certain groups might be more vulnerable to sleep disruption during this period. Past studies have often relied on small or homogeneous samples, so this study aimed to produce more generalizable findings by drawing from a nationally representative sample.
The National Sleep Foundation partnered with Ipsos Public Affairs to conduct a nationwide online survey between September 19 and 30, 2024—roughly six weeks before the presidential election. A total of 1,421 U.S. adults participated in the survey. The sample was drawn using address-based random sampling methods to ensure it reflected the broader U.S. population, with intentional oversampling of Black and Hispanic individuals to allow for subgroup comparisons.
The survey included questions on sleep duration and sleep quality, using items from the Sleep Health Index. Respondents were asked to rate their sleep quality on a five-point scale ranging from excellent to poor. They also answered whether they felt the 2024 presidential election campaign had negatively impacted their sleep. Response options included “very negative impact,” “negative impact,” or “no negative impact.”
After screening out respondents who completed the survey too quickly or skipped the election-related question, the final analytic sample included 1,364 participants. The researchers used statistical weighting techniques to ensure the results matched U.S. census demographics.
Seventeen percent of respondents said that the 2024 presidential campaign negatively impacted their sleep. While this means that the majority did not experience sleep disruption, the minority that did is large in absolute numbers—potentially affecting tens of millions of Americans.
People who reported sleep disruption also tended to sleep less on weekends and rated their sleep quality more poorly. On average, those who said the election affected their sleep got about 6.98 hours of sleep on weekend nights, compared to 7.41 hours for those who did not report an impact. They also reported worse sleep quality, scoring an average of 3.36 on the sleep quality scale, versus 3.05 for unaffected individuals.
The study found some notable demographic differences. Older adults—those 65 and older—were more likely to report a negative impact on sleep than younger participants. Adults who identified as non-Hispanic and categorized as “Other” in terms of race and ethnicity (such as Asian, Native American, or multiracial) reported the highest rates of disrupted sleep. In contrast, Hispanic adults were less likely to report any negative effect.
Employment status and household composition also played a role. Both full-time workers and unemployed adults were more likely to report poor sleep due to the election compared to those working part-time. Adults without children at home were also more likely to report an impact than those living with children, a somewhat surprising finding given that children often contribute to sleep disruptions in other contexts.
Political affiliation, sex, marital status, and education level were not linked to differences in reported election-related sleep disruption. This suggests that the stress of the campaign season cuts across ideological lines and demographic categories that are often thought to divide the electorate.
While the study offers evidence that political campaigns can affect sleep for some people, it does have limitations. One issue is the reliance on self-report measures. Although these are widely used in sleep research, they can be influenced by memory errors or personal bias. The study also did not include objective sleep measures such as data from sleep tracking devices or sleep diaries.
A key factor not included in this study is individual stress levels, which may be a key driver of both sleep quality and emotional reactions to politics. Future research might explore whether psychological traits—like anxiety sensitivity, emotional reactivity, or even media consumption habits—moderate how political events affect sleep. It may also be helpful to look at whether certain messaging strategies used during campaigns, such as those that highlight threats or provoke outrage, are more likely to disrupt sleep.
The study, “The impact of the 2024 US presidential election campaign on population sleep: A representative survey from National Sleep Foundation,” was authored by Joseph M. Dzierzewski, Alysa N. Miller, Spencer A. Nielson, and Natalie D. Dautovich.