Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

Advisor

Jeannette Manger

Abstract

Objective: To compare and establish the importance of the relationship between insufficient sleep and the frequency of mental health distress in Ohio in contrast to that in West Virginia and New Jersey in 2022. Methods: The data used included information on insufficient sleep, frequency of mental health distress, and premature death per each state studied and was collected from County Health Rankings and then analyzed using a Pearson’s correlation, one way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression. Ohio was chosen as the reference state with New Jersey and West Virginia as comparisons based on their equivalent population s ize and apparent differences in trends in the studied variables. Results: There was a strong and significant positive correlation between insufficient sleep and frequency of mental health distress in all three states in 2022. The percent of insufficient sleep in 2022 within Ohio (40.45%) was betwixt the states under study with New Jersey being lower (38.09%) and West Virginia being higher (43.34%). The percent of frequent mental health distress is highest in West Virginia (21.19%), then Ohio (17.76%), and lowest in New Jersey (13.11%) in 2022. A linear regression revealed that insufficient sleep could explain 87.3% of the variance in the frequency of mental health distress in 2022. When insufficient sleep was controlled for, t he percent of mental distress in Ohio was 1.8% lower than West Virginia and 3.33% higher than New Jersey in this measure in 2022. A linear regression indicated the frequency of mental health distress accounted for 65.5% of the variance in life expectancy in 2022. When controlled for frequency of mental health distress the life expectancy in Ohio was 2.22 years lower than New Jersey and 1.79 years higher than West Virginia in 2022.

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