Dysfunctional beliefs, stress and sleep disturbance in fibromyalgia

Abstract

Objective: To explore sleep-related dysfunctional beliefs, stress levels and sleep quality in patients with fibromyalgia in comparison to healthy controls.

Methods: One hundred sixty-six participants (83 patients with fibromyalgia and 83 healthy controls) completed self-report measures exploring beliefs and attitudes about sleep, perceived stress, sleep quality and levels of pain and fatigue.

Results: Relative to healthy controls, patients with fibromyalgia revealed significantly higher levels of dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep and perceived stress. High dysfunctional beliefs were significantly associated with poorer sleep quality and high perceived stress was significantly related to higher sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction.

Conclusions: Beliefs about sleep and perceived stress play a significant role in the sleep quality of patients with fibromyalgia. Interventions to improve sleep quality for people with fibromyalgia need to identify and address dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and incorporate stress management approaches.