Insomnia and complicated grief symptoms in bereaved college students

Behav Sleep Med. 2005;3(2):99-111. doi: 10.1207/s15402010bsm0302_4.

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.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Bereavement*
  • Cause of Death
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Dreams
  • Female
  • Grief*
  • Homicide / psychology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / diagnosis
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / epidemiology
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / psychology*
  • Students / psychology*
  • Students / statistics & numerical data
  • Suicide / psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires