When Thinking Impairs Sleep: Trait, Daytime and Nighttime Repetitive Thinking in Insomnia

Lancee, Jaap; Eisma, Maarten C.; Zanten, Kristopher B. van; Topper, Maurice

doi:10.1080/15402002.2015.1083022

Cited by 49 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(78 reference statements)

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“…These findings concur with results of other studies where participants with higher stress levels, higher cognitive activity prior to sleep, and more variable sleep schedules experienced more sleep problems (Gunn, Troxel, Hall, & Buysse, 2014;Härmä et al, 2018;Nota, Sharkey, & Coles, 2015). Sleep worries and preoccupations during bedtime have been shown to impair sleep quality and to maintain insomnia (Lancee, Eisma, van Zanten, & Topper, 2017;Takano, Iijima, & Tanno, 2012). Therefore, based on the results of this study it is worth considering potential behavioral strategies such as refocusing-retracting attention from intrusive thoughts (Gellis, Arigo, & Elliott, 2013), or solving stressful problems (Pech & O'Kearney, 2013) that could reduce night concerns, in order to improve treatments' efficacy to reduce sleep disturbances and prevent sleep disorders.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Association between maladaptive sleep hygiene behaviors and sleep quality in the general population

et al. 2020

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Prevalence of sleep problems has grown globally in recent years and sleep hygiene recommendations have shown inconsistent results. This study aims to analyze the quality of sleep in a non-clinical population and its association with maladaptive sleep hygiene. A total of 465 participants, with median age of 35 years (Interquartile range-IQR = 28-44), completed the Sleep Hygiene Practices Scale (SHPS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Sample was divided into good quality sleepers (GQS; 52.7%, n = 245) and poor quality sleepers (PQS; 47.3%, n = 220). Comparison tests showed PQS had significant higher scores on SHPS (M = 61; IQR = 55-68, p < .01) compared with GQS (M = 68; IQR = 62-74). A logistic regression model indicated that only cognitive-arousal behaviors and inconsistent bedtimes were significant to classify poor sleep (R 2 = .35; p < .01). In conclusion, poor sleep quality is common among healthy individuals and strongly associated with pre-sleep cognitive activity. This suggests that interventions aiming to improve sleep quality should consider strategies that would retract attention from concerns and worries at bedtime.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Association between maladaptive sleep hygiene behaviors and sleep quality in the general population

et al. 2020

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“…5,14 SIT often interferes with the ability to remain externally vigilant, 15,16 remain focused or concentrate on the task at hand, 16 properly encode external information, 17 listen, 18 perform, 16,19 or even sleep. 20 In addition to the apparent inefficiency that SIT contributes to daily life, there is now a large literature linking a majority of self-generated thought to negatively valenced content and negative mood states, 21,22 future unhappiness, 5 and the maintenance of psychopathology, such as generalized anxiety disorder [23][24][25] or major depressive disorder. 26,27 Most recently, there has been interest in exploring how particular forms of mental training that include a state of mindful awareness allow individuals to change the relationship with the resting state and experience the stream of stimulus-independent mental content in an adaptive way.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, humans have been shown to experience this intrinsic undercurrent of spontaneous, self‐generated thought during ongoing task demands as a form of interference, distraction, or rumination approximately 50% of each waking day . SIT often interferes with the ability to remain externally vigilant, remain focused or concentrate on the task at hand, properly encode external information, listen, perform, or even sleep . In addition to the apparent inefficiency that SIT contributes to daily life, there is now a large literature linking a majority of self‐generated thought to negatively valenced content and negative mood states, future unhappiness, and the maintenance of psychopathology, such as generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The brain on silent: mind wandering, mindful awareness, and states of mental tranquility

Vago

Zeidan

2016

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

107

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Mind wandering and mindfulness are often described as divergent mental states with opposing effects on cognitive performance and mental health. Spontaneous mind wandering is typically associated with self-reflective states that contribute to negative processing of the past, worrying/fantasizing about the future, and disruption of primary task performance. On the other hand, mindful awareness is frequently described as a focus on present sensory input without cognitive elaboration or emotional reactivity, and is associated with improved task performance and decreased stress-related symptomology. Unfortunately, such distinctions fail to acknowledge similarities and interactions between the two states. Instead of an inverse relationship between mindfulness and mind wandering, a more nuanced characterization of mindfulness may involve skillful toggling back and forth between conceptual and nonconceptual processes and networks supporting each state, to meet the contextually specified demands of the situation. In this article, we present a theoretical analysis and plausible neurocognitive framework of the restful mind, in which we attempt to clarify potentially adaptive contributions of both mind wandering and mindful awareness through the lens of the extant neurocognitive literature on intrinsic network activity, meditation, and emerging descriptions of stillness and nonduality. A neurophenomenological approach to probing modality-specific forms of concentration and nonconceptual awareness is presented that may improve our understanding of the resting state. Implications for future research are discussed.

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“…While we were unable to examine the specific mechanism by which symptoms of depression and PTSD contribute to insomnia severity, we speculate that the racing and/or intrusive thoughts associated with depression and PTSD make it difficult for individuals to fall and stay asleep at night. This hypothesis is supported by research indicating that perseverative thinking (e.g., “my thoughts repeat themselves”) and sleep-specific worry are associated with sleep impairment (Lancee et al, 2017). These issues may be particularly relevant for veterans, who may be trained to be hypervigilant during service in conflict environments (e.g., standing guard at night, using caffeine, perceiving need for little sleep as a sign of ‘toughness’) and may not receive training in alternative behaviors following deployment (Troxel et al, 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Insomnia severity as a mediator of the association between mental health symptoms and alcohol use in young adult veterans

Miller

DiBello

Carey

et al. 2017

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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Purpose Prior research has documented associations between mental health and alcohol use, mental health and insomnia, and insomnia and alcohol use. This study examined insomnia severity as a mediator of the association between mental health and alcohol-related outcomes in young adult veterans. Procedures Veterans aged 18 to 34 years (N = 622, 83% male) who reported drinking in the past year completed assessments at baseline and one-month follow-up as part of a larger intervention trial. Participants reported symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at baseline, insomnia severity at one month, and alcohol use and related consequences at baseline and one month. Mediation analyses using bootstrapped confidence intervals were used to examine the indirect effects of baseline mental health symptoms on alcohol-related outcomes at one month via insomnia severity. Main Findings Insomnia severity was associated with both drinking quantity and alcohol-related consequences. Greater depressive (but not PTSD) symptoms were associated directly with more alcohol-related consequences. Neither depressive nor PTSD symptoms had direct effects on drinking quantity when controlling for the other mental health symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms did not predict drinking quantity when controlling for symptoms of PTSD). However, symptoms of depression and PTSD predicted drinks per week and alcohol-related consequences indirectly through insomnia severity. Conclusions Symptoms of depression and PTSD increase risk for alcohol use and related consequences in part by increasing symptoms of insomnia. Findings suggest that insomnia may be an appropriate target for prevention and intervention efforts among heavy-drinking Veterans reporting symptoms of depression or PTSD.

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When Thinking Impairs Sleep: Trait, Daytime and Nighttime Repetitive Thinking in Insomnia

Cited by 49 publications

References 63 publications

Association between maladaptive sleep hygiene behaviors and sleep quality in the general population

Association between maladaptive sleep hygiene behaviors and sleep quality in the general population

The brain on silent: mind wandering, mindful awareness, and states of mental tranquility

Insomnia severity as a mediator of the association between mental health symptoms and alcohol use in young adult veterans

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