Not All Who Worry Lose Sleep: Personality, Normal Worry, and Sleep Disturbance Ascribed to Worry
Author(s): William E. Kelly
Abstract: Although worry is often viewed as maladaptive, moderate and controllable worry may serve adaptive cognitive functions. This study investigated how individual differences in normal worry, described as an adaptive, goal-directed form of anticipatory cognition, relate to sleep disturbance ascribed to worry (SAW) and whether Big Five personality traits explain this link. A student and community sample of 151 adults completed the Normal Worry Questionnaire (NORWO), SAW Scale, and Big Five Mini-Markers. Hierarchical regressions showed that higher normal worry predicted lower SAW after controlling for age, gender, and perceived sleep deprivation. Regression findings indicated that normal worry incrementally predicted SAW beyond personality. A parallel mediation model revealed no indirect effects through personality traits. Findings suggest that normal worry functions as a distinct metacognitive and self-regulatory process that may buffer maladaptive attribution of sleep problems to cognitive activity, underscoring the need to distinguish adaptive from pathological worry.
Keywords: Normal worry; Adaptive worry; Personality traits; Sleep disturbance; Metacognition; Emotion regulation; Individual differences
Article: e17004
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