Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Although cognitive over-arousal has been hypothesised as a causal factor in sleep-onset insomnia, relatively little is known about the specific pre-sleep intrusions which delay sleep. To investigate this relationship adequately 'live', verifiable, unobtrusive and independent monitoring of thought process and sleep pattern is essential. This study was designed with these requirements in mind. Voice-activated audiotape recordings of spontaneous thoughts, and actigraphic data from which to estimate sleep parameters, were obtained over three consecutive nights from 21 participants (63 subject nights). Content analysis of transcribed audiotapes yielded eight categories of pre-sleep intrusion. Results from correlational and regression analyses indicate that thinking about sleep and the anticipated consequences of poor sleep, along with general problem-solving are the strongest predictors of objective sleep latency. Principal Components Analysis suggests that intrusions can be subsumed under one of three factors: 'active problem-solving', 'present state monitoring' and 'environmental reactivity'. Implications for cognitive models and treatments of insomnia are discussed.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Behav Res Ther

Publication Date

07/2000

Volume

38

Pages

679 - 693

Keywords

Adult, Arousal, Attention, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Motor Activity, Polysomnography, Thinking