Abstract
Introduction: To date, little is known about the characterological make-up of acute insomniacs and in what ways they differ from chronic insomniacs. This lack of direction negates the possibility of understanding the key processes involved in the transition from acute to chronic insomnia and limits efforts to develop and refine preventative strategies. The aim of the present study was to compare acute and chronic insomniacs with an aim to determine differences in perceptions of stress and coping as well as higher order cognitive processing strategies. Method: In a cross-sectional survey, 524 participants were recruited from the general population, using a convenience sampling technique (74 chronic insomniacs; 146 acute insomniacs; and 304 normal sleepers). Participants completed a demographic and screening questionnaire to determine their sleep status as either (normal sleeper, acute insomniac, or chronic insomniac). Additionally, participants completed the Perceived Modes of Processing Inventory (PMPI), which measures the type of processing used when faced with threatening information, and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale-State Version (PANAS), which measures stress-related coping resources. Results: A multinomial logistic regression showed that the introduction of the independent variables significantly increased prediction accuracy (from 52.2% to 61.8%). However, demographic variables did not significantly increase prediction accuracy. Type of processing and negative affective state significantly differentiated group membership for both the acute and chronic insomniacs. Discussion and Conclusion: The results suggest that there are significant differences between the groups, with acute insomniacs predominately employing automatic processing and chronic insomniacs employing emotional processing. However, we could not ascertain whether these results were indicative of the transition or the condition. A longitudinal study, examining the transition between acute and chronic insomnia is needed to fully explore the relationship between stress, coping and insomnia status.