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
. 2018 Jun 1:14:1425-1432.
doi: 10.2147/NDT.S155722. eCollection 2018.

Investigation on dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep in Chinese college students

Lairun Jin  1 , Jun Zhou  1 , Hui Peng  2 , Shushu Ding  1 , Hui Yuan  1
Affiliations

Investigation on dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep in Chinese college students

Lairun Jin et al. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. .

Abstract

Objective: The aims of this study were to evaluate a subset of sleep-related cognitions and to examine whether dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep were associated with sleep quality in college students.

Patients and methods: A total of 1,333 college students were enrolled in this study by randomized cluster sampling. A brief version of Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale (DBAS-16) was administered to college students at several colleges. Sleep quality was also assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The DBAS-16 scores were analyzed across different demographic variables, corresponding subscales of 7-item PSQI, and relevant sleep behavior variables.

Results: A total of 343 participants were poor sleepers, while 990 were good sleepers, as defined by PSQI. The DBAS-16 scores were lower in poor sleepers than in good sleepers (46.32 ± 7.851 vs 49.87 ± 8.349, p < 0.001), and DBAS-16 scores were lower in females and nonmedical students when compared with those in males and medical students, respectively (48.20 ± 8.711 vs 49.73 ± 7.923, p = 0.001; 48.56 ± 8.406 vs 49.88 ± 8.208, p = 0.009, respectively). The total score for sleep quality, as measured by PSQI, was negatively correlated with the DBAS-16 total score (r = -0.197, p < 0.01). There were significant differences in PSQI scores between individuals with attitudes and those without attitudes about sleep with respect to good sleep habits (p < 0.001), self-relaxation (p = 0.001), physical exercise (p < 0.001), taking sleeping pills (p = 0.004), and taking no action (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Dysfunctional beliefs about sleep are associated with sleep quality and should be discouraged, especially for females and nonmedical college students.

Keywords: cognition; college students; dysfunctional beliefs; sleep; sleep quality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of participants with respect to measures for improving sleep quality.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Okajima I, Nakajima S, Ochi M, Inoue Y. Reducing dysfunctional beliefs about sleep does not significantly improve insomnia in cognitive behavioral therapy. PLoS One. 2014;9(7):e102565. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Roth T, Roehrs T. Insomnia: epidemiology, characteristics, and consequences. Clin Cornerstone. 2003;5(3):5–15. - PubMed
    1. Crum RM, Storr CL, Chan YF, Ford DE. Sleep disturbance and risk for alcohol-related problems. Am J Psychiatry. 2004;161(7):1197–1203. - PubMed
    1. Jung Y, Junna MR, Mandrekar JN, Morgenthaler TI. The national healthy sleep awareness project sleep health surveillance questionnaire as an obstructive sleep apnea surveillance tool. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(9):1067–1074. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mcknight-Eily LR, Liu Y, Wheaton AG, et al. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Unhealthy sleep-related behaviors – 12 states, 2009. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2011;60(8):233–238. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources