Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Dec;26(6):732-738.
doi: 10.1111/jsr.12563. Epub 2017 Jun 1.

Total sleep time as a predictor of suicidal behaviour

Affiliations

Total sleep time as a predictor of suicidal behaviour

Matthew S Michaels et al. J Sleep Res. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Insomnia symptoms are a known predictor of suicide; however, less is known about the relationship between hypersomnia and suicide, and how total sleep time may better account for suicidal ideation compared with subjective reports of insomnia symptoms. In the present secondary data analysis, a squared term confirmed the importance of both short and long total sleep time on suicidal behaviour. Total sleep time had a significant positive direct effect on suicidal behaviour (b = 0.20, SE = 0.08, P < 0.05), significant negative direct effects on insomnia symptoms (b = -1.67, SE = 0.13, P < 0.0001) and on depressive symptoms (b = -1.76, SE = 0.29, P < 0.0001). Depression had a significant positive effect on suicidal behaviour (b = 0.17, SE = 0.01, P < 0.0001), and significantly mediated the relationship between total sleep time and suicidal behaviour, but insomnia symptoms did not. Total sleep time squared had a significant positive relationship with suicidal behaviour (b = 0.02, SE = 0.01, P < 0.05), significant negative direct effects on insomnia symptoms (b = -0.12, SE = 0.01, P < 0.0001) and on depressive symptoms (b = -0.12, SE = 0.02, P < 0.0001). Depression had a significant positive effect on suicidal behaviour (b = 0.17, SE = 0.01, P < 0.0001), and significantly mediated the relationship between total sleep time and suicidal behaviour. These results suggest the importance of assessing for total sleep time in clinical settings with regard to suicide risk.

Keywords: depressive symptoms; hypersomnia; insomnia symptoms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources