Association between Daily Sadness and Anger Reactions to Stress and Sleep Efficiency in Old Age: The Role of Goal Disengagement Capacity

Discrete emotion theories postulate that sadness, but not anger, may exert adaptive health function in old age. Examining emotional reactions to stressors in older adulthood showed that increased within-person sadness predicted improved sleep efficiency. By contrast, within-person anger predicted poorer sleep efficiency, but only for individuals with low disengagement capacity.