The role of dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes in late-life insomnia

ObjectivesThis study examined the role of individual and combined sleep-related dysfunctional beliefs in late-life insomnia.MethodsOlder adults who responded to an advertisement in a magazine took part in a cross-sectional survey (N=382). Respondents completed self-report measures of dysfunctional beliefs about sleep (Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes to Sleep Scale) as well as measures of their current sleep patterns.ResultsOverall, people with insomnia (PWI) endorsed more extreme ratings of dysfunctional beliefs than “good sleepers” did. However, some sleep-related dysfunctional beliefs did not discriminate PWIs from good sleepers nor were they related to experiencing a longer duration of insomnia.ConclusionThis article demonstrates that not all sleep-related dysfunctional beliefs are related to reporting insomnia and that some are not related to a longer reported duration of insomnia, possibly changing through personal experience. These preliminary results may have implications for tailoring the cognitive aspects of psychoeducational programmes for people with late-life insomnia.