Sleep Disturbance Attributed to Worry and Its Association with Insomnia, Fatigue, and Daytime Sleepiness Beyond Trait Worry and Anxiety in College Students
Author(s): William E. Kelly
Abstract: Sleep disturbance attributed to worry (SAW) represents a specific cognitive belief linking worry to sleep problems, potentially distinguishing individuals whose insomnia is maintained by attributional processes rather than general emotional distress. The present study examined whether SAW predicts insomnia severity, daytime fatigue, and daytime sleepiness after accounting for trait worry and anxiety symptoms. A sample of 113 college students completed self-report measures of SAW, trait worry, anxiety, insomnia severity, fatigue, and daytime sleepiness. Regressions found that SAW predicted unique variance in insomnia severity beyond worry and anxiety but did not account for significant variance in fatigue or sleepiness. These findings suggest that worry-based causal attributions are uniquely tied to nocturnal sleep disruption rather than daytime dysfunction. Results support conceptualizing SAW as a metacognitive attribution influencing pre-sleep arousal and highlight the potential clinical value of addressing worry-based sleep beliefs in insomnia interventions.
Keywords: Sleep disturbance; Insomnia; Worry; Metacognition; Attribution; Fatigue; Daytime sleepiness; Cognitive–emotional processes
Article: e15004
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