Emotion coping strategies and dysfunctional sleep-related beliefs are associated with objective sleep problems in young adults with insomnia

The sleep response to stress: how sleep reactivity can help us prevent insomnia and promote resilience to trauma

“…Another study by Ballot et al (2021) found baseline FIRST scores were not related to 10‐days of actigraphy‐determined sleep in young adults with and without chronic insomnia disorder (i.e., SE, TST, SOL). This might be a by‐product of collecting actigraphy during a representative sample of nights, as baseline FIRST scores may only predict changes in actigraphic sleep during or after a period of stress.…”

“…This might be a by‐product of collecting actigraphy during a representative sample of nights, as baseline FIRST scores may only predict changes in actigraphic sleep during or after a period of stress. Furthermore, Ballot et al (2021) simultaneously modelled both predispositions (sleep reactivity) and perpetuating factors for insomnia (e.g., cognitive arousal) as predictors of actigraphy. This may have attenuated any association between FIRST scores and actigraphy because once insomnia becomes chronic, as was the case in their study, predispositions – including sleep reactivity – exert lesser (if any) impact on its perpetuation (Figure 1) (Ellis et al, 2021; Meaklim et al, 2023).…”

The importance and limitations of polysomnography in insomnia disorder—a critical appraisal

“…In the treatment of other neuropsychological disorders, such as chronic pain syndrome, much broader research has been directed at the importance of patients' expectancy for unspecific (placebo/nocebo) effects (Benedetti et al, 2003). As patients with ID often display very strong sleep-related expectancies and dysfunctional beliefs (Ballot et al, 2021)…”

“…In the treatment of other neuropsychological disorders, such as chronic pain syndrome, much broader research has been directed at the importance of patients’ expectancy for unspecific (placebo/nocebo) effects (Benedetti et al, 2003). As patients with ID often display very strong sleep‐related expectancies and dysfunctional beliefs (Ballot et al, 2021), it is worth discussing how clinicians should react to strong beliefs about the amount and importance of the assumed objective sleep disturbance. PSG can fulfil the expectancy to get ‘thoroughly examined’ and reassure about the robustness of human sleep physiology.…”

Mechanisms of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia

“…According to the “cognitive model of insomnia” of Harvey (2002), cognitive aspects of insomnia include increased worry and rumination about both sleep‐related and non‐sleep‐related issues, and overattributing insomnia consequences, such as the impact of sleep disturbance, on daytime functioning (Ballot et al, 2021). While the wake‐to‐sleep transition should normally occur naturally and automatically, the malfunctioning of this transition can lead to a dysfunctional tendency to consciously address this natural process by increasing attention and intention to sleep.…”