Safety behaviors and dysfunctional beliefs about sleep: testing a cognitive model of the maintenance of insomnia.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine if insomnia severity, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, and depression predicted sleep-related safety behaviors.

METHOD: Standard sleep-related measures (such as the Insomnia Severity Index; the Dysfunctional Beliefs About Sleep scale; the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale; and the Sleep-Related Behaviors Questionnaire) were administered. Additionally, 14 days of sleep diary (Pittsburg Sleep Diary) data and actual use of sleep-related behaviors were collected.

RESULTS: Regression analysis revealed that dysfunctional beliefs about sleep predicted sleep-related safety behaviors. Insomnia severity did not predict sleep-related safety behaviors. Depression accounted for the greatest amount of unique variance in the prediction of safety behaviors, followed by dysfunctional beliefs. Exploratory analysis revealed that participants with higher levels of depression used more sleep-related behaviors and reported greater dysfunctional beliefs about their sleep.

CONCLUSION: The findings underlie the significant influence that dysfunctional beliefs have on individuals' behaviors. Moreover, the results suggest that depression may need to be considered as an explicit component of cognitive-behavioral models of insomnia.