Nathaniel Maloney

Date Approved

9-18-2013

Embargo Period

3-3-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. Applied Psychology and Professional Mental Health Counseling

Department

Psychology

College

College of Science & Mathematics

Advisor

Angelone, Bonnie

Subject(s)

Insomnia

Disciplines

Psychiatric and Mental Health

Abstract

Attentional bias to sleep related stimuli by poor sleepers has been reported as a factor in initiating and maintaining sleep disturbance. In this study, three paradigms (Flicker, Posner, and Stroop) were used in comparison to further investigate the role of attentional biases in Primary Insomnia. Participants (n=117) were split into good sleepers and poor sleepers using a median split with the Pittsburgh Insomnia Rating Scale (PIRS). Using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) as the covariate, two-way mixed modality ANCOVAs were conducted for each paradigm revealing no significant differences in word type, quality of sleep, or the interaction of these variables. Using only the poor sleepers, a one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the paradigms to each other revealing no significant difference in how attentional bias is measured by them. There does not seem to be a relationship to sleep distress and attentional bias in the current sample. The findings may suggest a difference in the perception of sleep distress for the college population.

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