COVID-19 Worries and Insomnia: A Follow-Up Study.


Type
Article
Change log
Authors
Brown, Lily A 
Zhu, Yiqin 
Hamlett, Gabriella E  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3764-2966
Moore, Tyler M 
DiDomenico, Grace E 
Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with significant increases in sleep disorder symptoms and chronic worry. We previously demonstrated that worry about the pandemic was more strongly associated with subsequent insomnia than the converse during the acute (first 6 months) phase of the pandemic. In this report, we evaluated whether that association held over one year of the pandemic. Participants (n = 3560) completed self-reported surveys of worries about the pandemic, exposure to virus risk factors, and the Insomnia Severity Index on five occasions throughout the course of one year. In cross-sectional analyses, insomnia was more consistently associated with worries about the pandemic than exposure to COVID-19 risk factors. In mixed-effects models, changes in worries predicted changes in insomnia and vice versa. This bidirectional relationship was further confirmed in cross-lagged panel models. Clinically, these findings suggest that during a global disaster, patients who report elevations in either worry or insomnia should be considered for evidence-based treatments for these symptoms to prevent secondary symptoms in the future. Future research should evaluate the extent to which dissemination of evidence-based practices for chronic worry (a core feature of generalized anxiety disorder or illness anxiety disorder) or insomnia reduces the development of co-occurring symptoms during a global disaster.

Description
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety, insomnia, worry, Humans, COVID-19, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Follow-Up Studies, Pandemics, Cross-Sectional Studies, Anxiety, Depression
Journal Title
Int J Environ Res Public Health
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1661-7827
1660-4601
Volume Title
20
Publisher
MDPI AG
Sponsorship
NIMH NIH HHS (K23 MH120437)