Type D personality to insomnia: Sleep reactivity, sleep effort, and sleep hygiene as mediators

Abstract

BackgroundInsomniacs are heterogenous group with very diverse personalities. We aimed to investigate the mediating role of sleep reactivity (SR), sleep hygiene (SH), and sleep effort (SE) in the relationship between Type D personality and insomnia.Materials and methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey among 474 participants. The survey comprised the sociodemographic data form, Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), D Type Personality Scale (DS-14), Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test (FIRST), Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale (GSES), and Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI). We conducted hierarchical multiple regression analysis to identify the associations between age, sex, SR, Type D personality traits, SE, SH, and insomnia severity. We subsequently conducted mediation analyses to examine whether SR, SH, and SE mediated the relationship between Type D personality and insomnia.ResultsISI, DS-14, FIRST, SHI, and GSES scores were significantly higher in individuals with Type D personality. Female sex, SR, Type D personality traits, SE, and SH explained 45% of the variance in insomnia severity. When age, sex, insomnia response to stress, and Type D personality traits were controlled, SE and SH significantly explained 25% of the variance in insomnia severity (R2 = 0.45, R2 change = 0.25, F (6.474) = 65.58, p < 0.001). SR, SE, and SH each played a partial mediating role between Type D personality and insomnia.ConclusionThe findings showed that individuals with Type D personality had high SR and that individuals with a higher number of these personality traits exhibited more severe insomnia symptoms through high SR, greater SE, and worse SH.

Personality and insomnia: A systematic review and narrative synthesis

“…Whilst negative affect and social inhibition were independently related to insomnia symptoms, negative affect emerged to be the most prominent predictor of insomnia when accounting for shared variance. These outcomes are partially replicated amongst Turkish university students (Uygur et al, 2023) and Polish high‐school teachers (Domagalska et al, 2021) where increased reports of insomnia symptoms were observed in those being characterised as Type‐D individuals. Likewise, North American students meeting the diagnostic criteria for insomnia demonstrated increased negative affect and social avoidance compared with normal sleeping controls (Yuksel et al, 2022).…”

“…Most studies collected cross‐sectional data, with N = 10 employing a longitudinal design (Akram et al, 2015; Dørheim et al, 2016; Ellis et al, 2021; Husson et al, 2015; Jansson‐Fröjmark & Linton, 2007; Larsgård & Saksvik‐Lehouillier, 2017; Reeve et al, 2018; Singareddy et al, 2012; Sørengaard et al 2022; Trudel‐Fitzgerald et al, 2017). Moreover, N = 15 studies restricted sampling to students (Brand et al, 2015; Emert et al, 2017; Fabbri et al, 2022; Lauriola et al, 2019; Lukowski & Tsukerman, 2021; Ma et al, 2020; Polner et al, 2018; Zamani Sani et al, 2023; Schmidt et al, 2010, 2018; Scott et al, 2017; Shealy et al, 1980; Yuksel et al, 2022; Uygur et al, 2023). Most studies ( N = 44) sampled individuals experiencing symptoms of insomnia, whereas the remaining sampled individuals meeting the appropriate diagnostic criterion for insomnia at the time of data collection ( N = 32) and deployed questionnaires assessing insomnia‐symptoms.…”

“…Likewise, North American students meeting the diagnostic criteria for insomnia demonstrated increased negative affect and social avoidance compared with normal sleeping controls (Yuksel et al, 2022). While the relative roles of NA and SI remained unexamined, behavioural sleep effort and vulnerability to stress‐related sleep disturbances were associated with the experience of Type‐D personality (Uygur et al, 2023). In survivors of colorectal cancer, individuals characterised as Type‐D presented a twofold increase in symptoms of insomnia relative to non‐Type‐D controls after controlling for sociodemographic factors, time since diagnosis, chemotherapy, and depression (Husson et al, 2015).…”

“…Studies examining the role of multidimensional perfectionism found that insomnia is associated with doubts about action, concern over mistakes, and parental criticism (Akram et al, 2015, 2017, 2020; Andersson et al, 2005; Brand et al, 2015; Jansson‐Fröjmark & Linton, 2007; Lundh et al, 1994; Schmidt et al, 2018; Trudel‐Fitzgerald et al, 2017; Vincent & Walker, 2000). Moreover, when investigating individuals with Type‐D personality, negative affect emerges as the main predictor of insomnia at the disorder level with social inhibition being also independently related to insomnia symptoms (Akram, Allen, et al, 2018; Akram, McCarty, et al, 2018; Domagalska et al, 2021; Uygur et al, 2023). Employing the MMPI to examine personality and psychopathology found that insomnia is linked to higher levels of hypochondriasis, psychasthenia, and hysteria.…”

Turkish Adaptation and Validation of the Adolescent Sleep-Wake Scale

“…Sleep impacts cognition, academic achievements, and daily activities [8,16]. Thus, it is crucial to investigate sleep quality throughout adolescence [17].…”