Anger Associated with Insomnia and Recent Stressful Life Events in Community-Dwelling Adults

Abstract

Insomnia is affected by various predisposing factors, precipitating factors, and their interactions [1]. Among them, hyperarousal and stress dysregulation have been suggested as the main causes of insomnia. According to this theoretical model, both sleep reactivity, as a predisposing factor, and the stressful events, as a precipitating factor, are important to the development of insomnia.Exposure to stressors activates the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, which increases adrenaline levels and disturbs sleep [2,3]. However, there are large individual differences in the amount of sleep disturbance experienced, even in response to the similar stressful events. To explain these inter-individual differences, studies have suggested the concept of sleep reactivity, a trait defined by the degree to which stressors disrupt sleep. A number of factors, such as ge-Objective: The current study explored the influences of the association between insomnia and stressful events on the state or trait anger in community-dwelling adults. Methods: In total, 175 community-dwelling adults (101 females and 74 males, mean age, 41.30±8.45 years) were recruited. All participants completed a self-reported questionnaire to assess insomnia and the Korean version of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Stressful life events during the last 6 months were also assessed in face to face interviews. Participants were divided into four groups based on the presence or absence of insomnia or recent stressful life events. Results: State anger (S-Anger), trait anger (T-Anger), anger temperament (T-Anger/T), and anger reaction (T-Anger/R) differed significantly among the four groups according to insomnia and stressful events. Among normal sleepers, those with stressors showed higher T-Anger and T-Anger/R scores than those without stressors. Among those who experienced stressful life events, the S-Anger scores were higher in those with than in those without insomnia. Subjects who experienced insomnia after stressful events exhibited higher scores in all anger categories compared to normal sleepers without stressful events. Conclusion: The present study provides support for an association between sleep reactivity after stressors and the anger. Stress-related insomnia is associated with state and trait anger in community-dwelling adults.

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“…The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI; Spielberger, 1988 ) is a frequently used measure of anger tendencies that has been utilized in multiple community (e.g., Driscoll et al, 2010 ; Kim et al, 2019 ), clinical (e.g., Lievaart et al, 2016 ), and forensic settings (e.g., Trimble et al, 2015 ). We selected the Anger Expression subscale to measure manifestations of anger which is comprised of 20 items using a 4-point scale, from 1 ( almost never ) to 4 ( almost always ).…”