title: Insomnia and complicated grief symptoms in bereaved college students.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA.
authors.forename: Heather Gaines
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Hardison
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Neimeyer
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lichstein
mesh_terms: 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