Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2018
Capstone Advisor
Les Gellis
Honors Reader
Bradley Seymour
Capstone Major
Psychology
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Mental and Social Health | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
A common symptom of depression is insomnia – yet it remains unclear why those with depression report difficulty sleeping and little is known about the pre-sleep experiences of those who are depressed. The aim of this paper is to compare pre-sleep experiences in people with and without depression on eight different types of sleep-disturbing experiences that people often have when they lie awake during the night. Eighty-seven undergraduate college participants including 34 with depression and 53 without depression completed daily surveys for 14 days on these pre-sleep experiences. Results indicated that those with depression reported significantly higher scores on thinking too much (t(78) = -1.91, p < .05), worrying and dwelling on concerns (t(78) = -2.28, p < .05), unpleasant emotions/not comfortable emotionally (t(78) = -2.37, p < .05), visual imagery (“pictures in your mind”) interfered with sleep (t(78) = -1.40, p < .05), wakening from a dream led to losing sleep (t(78) = -1.53, p <.05), and feeling at least partly awake (and partly asleep) during parts of the night (t(780 = -1.51, p <.05). These findings suggest that insomnia/sleep difficulty in those with depression is associated with emotional and cognitive disturbances prior to the onset of sleep.
Recommended Citation
Teris, Lawrencia, "Assessing Pre-sleep Experiences in a Population of Depressed and Non-depressed College Students" (2018). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 1189.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1189
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
