Insomnia and complicated grief symptoms in bereaved college students.
In this study, we extended previous research by concentrating on sleep- and grief-related symptoms in a cohort of bereaved college students, in view of the potential for each of these problems to exacerbate the other. A sample of 815 college students completed the Inventory of Complicated Grief (H. G. Prigerson & S. C. Jacobs, 2001), along with an assessment of diagnostic criteria for insomnia and associated sleep behaviors. As predicted, the rate of insomnia was significantly higher (22%) in the bereaved sample than in a nonbereaved comparison group (17%), a difference that was particularly pronounced in terms of middle insomnia. Also as hypothesized, bereaved insomniacs reported higher complicated grief scores than bereaved noninsomniacs, and several specific sleep variables (including sleep-onset insomnia related to nighttime rumination about the loss and sleep-maintenance insomnia associated with dreaming of the deceased) were significantly related to complicated grief symptomatology.
Hardison
Heather Gaines
HG
Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA.
Neimeyer
Robert A
RA
Lichstein
Kenneth L
KL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001601:Bereavement; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004325:Dreams; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006708:Homicide / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires