Full moon: Does it influence agitated nursing home residents?

Jiska Cohen‐Mansfield*, Marcia S. Marx, Perla Werner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examined the effect of the full moon on agitation manifested by nursing home residents (N = 24). Observations of agitation were recorded on a behavioral mapping instrument, and occurrence of the full moon was operationalized in the three ways most commonly cited in the literature. The hypothesis that elderly nursing home residents become increasingly agitated during a full moon was not supported by this study. In all analyses, agitation was observed less often when the full moon was full than during the other three lunar phases, although differences were not statistically significant.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)611-614
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Clinical Psychology
Volume45
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1989
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institute of Mental HealthR01MH040758

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