Trajectories of insomnia following bereavement

Thomas A. de Lang*, Asuman Buyukcan-Tetik, Peter J. de Jong, Marike Lancel, Maarten C. Eisma

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
86 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Insomnia symptoms are common following bereavement and may exacerbate severe and protracted grief reactions, such as prolonged grief disorder (PGD). However, typical trajectories of insomnia symptoms and risk factors for having a more chronic insomnia trajectory following bereavement are yet unknown. Method: In the current investigation, 220 recently bereaved (≤6 months post-loss) participants, completed questionnaires assessing sociodemographic and loss-related characteristics, rumination, experiential avoidance and symptoms of (prolonged) grief and depression, on three time-points (6 months apart). We applied growth mixture models to investigate the typical trajectories of insomnia symptoms following bereavement. Results: Three insomnia trajectory classes emerged, characterized by a resilient (47 %), recovering (43 %), and a chronic trajectory (10 %). Baseline depression symptoms best predicted the type of insomnia trajectory. At one-year follow-up, 9 %, 27 %, and 60 % of participants met the criteria for probable PGD within the resilient, recovering and chronic trajectory, respectively. A parallel process model showed that temporal changes in insomnia symptoms were strongly related to changes in prolonged grief symptoms. Conclusion: The results suggest, that targeting insomnia symptoms in the treatment of PGD, particularly with comorbid depression, may be a viable option.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)159-166
Number of pages8
JournalSleep Medicine
Volume114
Early online date9-Jan-2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb-2024

Keywords

  • Complicated grief
  • Growth curve modeling
  • Parallel process analysis
  • Prolonged grief disorder
  • Sleep

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