Gender and cognitive–emotional factors as predictors of pre-sleep arousal and trait hyperarousal in insomnia

AbstractObjective ed pre-sleep arousal has been consistently associated with insomnia, yet the cognitive–emotional mechanisms involved in sleep-related arousal remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of pre-sleep arousal and trait hyperarousal from a set of variables that included self-reported affect, sleep-related cognitions, locus of control, and gender. s sectional data were analyzed for 128 participants (89 females) who met criteria for psychophysiological insomnia and completed a set of questionnaires that included the Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep (BAS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Negative Subscale (nPANAS) and Positive Subscale (pPANAS)), Sleep Locus of Control (SLOC), Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS), Hyperarousal Scale (HAS) and demographic information. Step-wise regression was conducted with a set of independent variables, with PSAS and HAS serving as separate dependent variables. s hyperarousal was associated with higher levels of both negative and positive emotionality, as well as negative beliefs about sleep, in both genders. Pre-sleep arousal was associated with greater negative emotionality and internal sleep locus of control, varying by gender. Among women, high pre-sleep arousal was associated with negative emotionality, while in men greater pre-sleep arousal was associated with an internal sleep locus of control. sion findings have clinical implications, suggesting that men and women may require different cognitive targets when addressing pre-sleep arousal.