THE SLEEP COGNITIONS QUESTIONNAIRE - AN INVENTORY FOR MEASURING SLEEP-RELATED THOUGHTS SENSITIVE TO THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

During the past decade, considerable progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic insomnia. This progress has led to the elaboration of medical and psychological interventions. Chronic insomnia is mostly accompanied by emotional and cognitive impairments. Disturbed mood and intrusive thoughts are not only after-effects of disturbed sleep, but may also be responsible for the maintenance of the insomnia problem. Multicomponent behavior therapy must focus on these cognitions as well as on the sleep disturbance itself. The ''Sleep Cognitions Questionnaire'' was developed for the differential assessment of sleep related cognitive reactions. With a sample of N = 122 insomniacs, some of whom participated in a group therapy program for chronic insomnia, 5 factors were extracted which explain 45.7% of total variance. Two scales represent negative cognitions regarding the sleep problem, while the other three include rather positive self control or indifferent statements. The satisfactory reliability scores are more convincing for the negative than the positive scales. Initial findings on validity indicate that this may be a suitable instrument for diagnosis and therapy evaluation.