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Intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors are associated with sleep disturbances in bereavement‐related depression
Author(s) -
Hall Martica,
Buysse Daniel J.,
Dew Mary Amanda,
Prigerson Holly G.,
Kupfer David J.,
Reynolds Charles F.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
depression and anxiety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.634
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6394
pISSN - 1091-4269
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6394(1997)6:3<106::aid-da3>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - psychology , arousal , depression (economics) , sleep (system call) , insomnia , clinical psychology , cognition , sleep onset latency , sleep disorder , psychiatry , neuroscience , computer science , economics , macroeconomics , operating system
Cognitive arousal has been associated with disrupted sleep in individuals with insomnia and may be one mechanism underlying sleep disturbances in depression. We evaluated the relationship of sleep to bereavement‐related intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors in 40 men and women with major depression consequent to bereavement. Mean subject age was 65 years, 25% of the same was male, and median time since loss was 7.4 months. Levels of intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors were similar to samples seeking treatment for stress response syndromes, including post‐traumatic stress disorder. After controlling for the effects of age, time since loss, and depression severity, greater frequency of bereavement‐related intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors was associated with longer sleep latency and lower delta sleep ratio ( P values < .01). Intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors were not strongly related to gender, time since loss, depression severity, or subjective sleep quality. These results suggest that intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors affect sleep in bereavement‐related depression and may therefore be related to the clinical course of depression. Depression and Anxiety 6:106–112, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.