A Correlational Analysis of the Relationships among Intolerance of Uncertainty, Anxiety Sensitivity, Subjective Sleep Quality, and Insomnia Symptoms

Date
2019-09-05
Authors
Lauriola, Marco
Carleton, R. Nicholas
Tempesta, Daniela
Calanna, Pierpaolo
Socci, Valentina
Mosca, Oriana
Salfi, Federico
De Gennaro, Luigi
Ferrara, Michele
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Abstract

In this study, we used structural equation modeling to investigate the interplay among Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU), Anxiety Sensitivity (AS), and sleep problems. Three hundred undergraduate students completed the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Inventory, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Insomnia Severity Index. 68% and 40% of the students reported poor sleep quality or sub-threshold insomnia problems, respectively. Depression and anxiety levels were above the cut-off for about one-fourth of the participants. Structural equation modeling revealed that IU was strongly associated with AS, in turn influencing both insomnia severity and sleep quality via depression and anxiety. Significant indirect effects revealed that an anxious pathway was more strongly associated with insomnia severity, while a depression pathway was more relevant for worsening the quality of sleep. We discussed the results in the frameworks of cognitive models of insomnia. Viewing AS and IU as antecedents of sleep problems and assigning to AS a pivotal role, our study suggested indications for clinical interventions on a population at risk for sleep disorders.

Description
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords
intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity, sleep quality, insomnia severity, mediation analyses, depression, anxiety
Citation
Lauriola, M., Carleton, R. N., Tempesta, D., Calanna, P. Socci, V., Mosca O., De Gennaro, L. & Ferrara, M. (2019). A correlational analysis of the relationships among Intolerance of Uncertainty, Anxiety Sensitivity, Subjective Sleep Quality, and Insomnia Symptoms. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, 3253. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183253