Are Poor Sleepers Afraid of the Dark? A Preliminary Investigation

Carney, Colleen E.; Moss, Taryn G.; Atwood, Molly E.; Crowe, Brian M.; ba, Ba; Andrews, A

doi:10.5127/jep.032312

“…In line with several of these behaviours, Harvey's (2002a) cognitive model of insomnia describes five mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of insomnia: cognitive arousal, or worry; selective attention; misperception of sleep and daytime functioning; unhelpful beliefs about sleep; and sleep-related safety behaviours. The heightened arousal (Grillon et al, 1997) and enhanced startle (Carney et al, 2013) exhibited by some humans in dark conditions is suggestive of fear, and is consistent with the previously described models of phobia proffered by researchers. That is, if the dark is a conditioned fear in some individuals with insomnia, it makes sense according to models of phobia that these individuals engage in defense behaviours such as escape or avoidance (i.e., safety behaviours) and hyperarousal or vigilance, and exhibit a larger startle reflex.…”

Section: Phobia Insomnia and Fear Of The Darksupporting

confidence: 90%

“…However, recent research has suggested that FOD also exists in adults, and may be a significant factor in sleep problems (Carney et al, 2013;Moss, Carney, Atwood, Crowe, & Luminoso, 2011). A study investigating the relationship between poor sleep and discomfort in the dark in a sample of young adults found that poor sleepers both self-reported and physiologically experienced fear of the dark (Carney et al, 2013). On a subjective index, which researchers developed for the purpose of the study, a surprising, statistically significant number of individuals with poor sleep reported FOD.…”

Section: Fear Of the Dark And Insomniamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arousal in this sense is an umbrella term for many constructs, however one possible source or consequence of this arousal may be fear of the dark (FOD). A recent study found that in young adults, FOD is higher among those with sleep problems (Carney, Moss, Atwood, Crowe, & Andrews, 2013), which raises the question: is FOD characteristic of those with diagnosed insomnia disorder? If FOD is a characteristic that predisposes some individuals to insomnia or perpetuates its chronicity, there are clinical implications for insomnia treatment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An investigation of fear of the dark in individuals with insomnia disorder

Maich¹

2021

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Past research found that individuals with poor sleep report and physiologically exhibit greater fear of the dark (FOD) than good sleepers (Carney et al., 2013). The presence of FOD in individuals with insomnia disorder (ID) would have important implications to our understanding of ID and its treatment. Thus, the present study compared individuals with ID to good sleepers (N = 50) on objective and subjective FOD, and explored the FOD construct through participant interviews. Contrary to expectations, ID and good sleeper groups did not differ on FOD measures. Cognitive arousal and trauma history were related to reported dark discomfort. For those with ID, experiences in the dark were characterized by greater sleep effort and pre-sleep arousal generally, but not dark-specific fear per se. For those who were fearful of the dark we posit that there may be a trauma-activated pathway to arousal. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

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“…, has been successful in prior research in eliciting EMG response (e.g Carney, Moss, Atwood, Crowe, & Andrews, 2014)…”

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confidence: 99%

An investigation of cardiac indices in normal sleepers and those with insomnia disorder

Lachowski¹

2021

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the world’s leading cause of death. Insomnia, a prevalent disorder among Canadian adults, has been identified in some studies as an independent risk factor for CVD. Heart rate variability (HRV), often used as a proxy for autonomic activity in the body, has been demonstrated to be impaired in individuals with insomnia. Scientists have suggested that results implicate exaggerated sympathetic activation in people with insomnia, which can lead to impaired cardiac reactivity and poorer heart health. Much of the research in this field has been with poorly classified clinical groups and potentially confounding comorbid disorders, making the results difficult to interpret. Findings of the present study extend our understanding of the relationship between insomnia and CVD by addressing the weaknesses of prior research and by utilizing contemporary statistical methods. A well-classified clinical group meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria for Insomnia Disorder (ID; N = 26) was compared to normal sleepers (NS; N = 23) on two well-validated indices of cardiovascular health and autonomic activity, cardiac output (CO) and pre-ejection period (PEP). Values of these indices were derived from an acoustic challenge paradigm that allowed the heart to adapt to the environment via autonomic influence. A multi-level modeling (MLM) approach was used to evaluate both the within-person and between-person differences in autonomic activation and cardiac functioning using a group of predictors that are known to be associated with insomnia and/or CVD. Results of the level two MLM analyses revealed that sleep variables are not significantly predictive of cardiac reactivity indices. A post-hoc linear regression analysis using the same predictor variables to predict HRV revealed that insomnia was significantly predictive of HRV. These conflicting results raise important questions about research methodology, validity of chosen indices, and statistical techniques.

show abstract

“…, has been successful in prior research in eliciting EMG response (e.g Carney, Moss, Atwood, Crowe, & Andrews, 2014)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation of cardiac indices in normal sleepers and those with insomnia disorder

Lachowski¹

2021

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the world’s leading cause of death. Insomnia, a prevalent disorder among Canadian adults, has been identified in some studies as an independent risk factor for CVD. Heart rate variability (HRV), often used as a proxy for autonomic activity in the body, has been demonstrated to be impaired in individuals with insomnia. Scientists have suggested that results implicate exaggerated sympathetic activation in people with insomnia, which can lead to impaired cardiac reactivity and poorer heart health. Much of the research in this field has been with poorly classified clinical groups and potentially confounding comorbid disorders, making the results difficult to interpret. Findings of the present study extend our understanding of the relationship between insomnia and CVD by addressing the weaknesses of prior research and by utilizing contemporary statistical methods. A well-classified clinical group meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria for Insomnia Disorder (ID; N = 26) was compared to normal sleepers (NS; N = 23) on two well-validated indices of cardiovascular health and autonomic activity, cardiac output (CO) and pre-ejection period (PEP). Values of these indices were derived from an acoustic challenge paradigm that allowed the heart to adapt to the environment via autonomic influence. A multi-level modeling (MLM) approach was used to evaluate both the within-person and between-person differences in autonomic activation and cardiac functioning using a group of predictors that are known to be associated with insomnia and/or CVD. Results of the level two MLM analyses revealed that sleep variables are not significantly predictive of cardiac reactivity indices. A post-hoc linear regression analysis using the same predictor variables to predict HRV revealed that insomnia was significantly predictive of HRV. These conflicting results raise important questions about research methodology, validity of chosen indices, and statistical techniques.

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Are Poor Sleepers Afraid of the Dark? A Preliminary Investigation

Cited by 3 publications

References 32 publications

An investigation of fear of the dark in individuals with insomnia disorder

An investigation of fear of the dark in individuals with insomnia disorder

An investigation of cardiac indices in normal sleepers and those with insomnia disorder

An investigation of cardiac indices in normal sleepers and those with insomnia disorder

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