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

Figures & data

Table 1 Ages of the subjects and their scores on the DBAS-16 (mean ± SD, N = 1,333)

Characteristics	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	SD
Age (years)	16	26	20.74	1.31
Consequences of insomnia	5	25	14.58	3.313
Worry/helplessness about sleep	6	30	18.52	3.750
Expectations for sleep	2	10	4.56	1.615
Medication	3	15	11.29	2.411
Total DBAS-16	16	80	48.95	8.366

Abbreviation: DBAS-16, Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale.

Table 2 DBAS-16 total and subscale scores in the different groups

Variables	n	Consequences of insomnia	Worry/helplessness about sleep	Expectations for sleep	Medication	Total DBAS-16
Gender
Male	679	14.53 ± 3.331	18.86 ± 3.610	4.57 ± 1.601	11.78 ± 2.077	49.73 ± 7.923
Female	654	14.62 ± 3.298	18.20 ± 3.855	4.56 ± 1.630	10.82 ± 2.610	48.20 ± 8.711
t		0.476	3.208	0.036	7.405	3.352
p-value		0.634	0.001	0.972	<0.001	0.001
Grade
Freshman	404	14.70 ± 3.372	18.65 ± 3.748	4.61 ± 1.604	11.57 ± 2.254a	49.52 ± 8.319
Sophomore	441	14.60 ± 3.240	18.55 ± 3.672	4.61 ± 1.655	11.39 ± 2.407a	49.14 ± 8.264
Junior	464	14.43 ± 3.356	18.35 ± 3.778	4.50 ± 1.581	10.95 ± 2.511a	48.24 ± 8.474
Senior	24	15.04 ± 2.742	19.38 ± 4.614	4.21 ± 1.744	11.33 ± 2.444a	49.96 ± 8.416
F		0.643	0.902	0.799	5.057	1.937
p-value		0.587	0.440	0.494	0.002	0.122
Age (years)
16–19	211	14.69 ± 3.356	18.57 ± 3.807	4.55 ± 1.496	11.73 ± 2.202a	49.53 ± 8.279
20–22	1,027	14.51 ± 3.350	18.56 ± 3.721	4.58 ± 1.646	11.23 ± 2.455a	48.88 ± 8.452
23–26	95	14.95 ± 2.765	18.01 ± 3.945	4.48 ± 1.584	11.02 ± 2.288a	48.46 ± 7.621
F		0.908	0.960	0.151	4.428	0.702
p-value		0.403	0.383	0.860	0.012	0.496
Self-evaluation of character
Extrovert	219	14.81 ± 3.768	18.64 ± 4.073	4.49 ± 1.601	11.23 ± 2,647	49.17 ± 9.430
Partial extrovert	566	14.61 ± 3.324	18.47 ± 3.925	4.52 ± 1.596	11.28 ± 2.510	48.88 ± 8.677
Partial introvert	494	14.50 ± 3.041	18.56 ± 3.389	4.69 ± 1.654	11.34 ± 2.151	49.10 ± 7.388
Introvert	54	13.98 ± 3.606	18.28 ± 3.759	4.15 ± 1.433	11.17 ± 2.648	47.57 ± 8.965
F		1.031	0.201	2.577	0.162	0.602
p-value		0.378	0.896	0.052	0.922	0.614
Type of college
Medical college	397	14.82 ± 3.304	18.82 ± 3.639	4.66 ± 1.678	11.58 ± 2.235	49.88 ± 8.208
Nonmedical college	936	14.47 ± 3.313	18.40 ± 3.791	4.52 ± 1.587	11.17 ± 2.472	48.56 ± 8.406
t		1.742	1.904	1.374	2.951	2.627
p-value		0.082	0.057	0.170	0.003	0.009
PSQI
<7	990	14.84 ± 3.292	19.01 ± 3.655	4.59 ± 1.635	11.43 ± 2.349	49.87 ± 8.349
≥7	343	13.83 ± 3.265	17.13 ± 3.677	4.48 ± 1.556	10.89 ± 2.542	46.32 ± 7.851
t		4.894	8.174	1.183	3.457	6.874
P-value		<0.001	<0.001	0.237	0.001	<0.001

Notes: Data are presented as mean ± SD. Significant results are highlighted in bold type.

a Significant differences according to the Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) test (p < 0.05).

Abbreviations: DBAS-16, Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale; PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.

Table 3 Correlations among dependent and independent variables

Variables	DBAS-16 medication	DBAS-16 expectations	DBAS-16 worry/helplessness	DBAS-16 consequences	DBAS-16 total
DBAS-16 medication	–
DBAS-16 expectations	0.154*	–
DBAS-16 worry/helplessness	0.489*	0.285*	–
DBAS-16 consequences	0.319*	0.373*	0.561*	–
DBAS-16 total	0.664*	0.513*	0.867*	0.811*	–
PSQI sleep quality	0.005	−0.069**	−0.190*	−0.109*	−0.140*
PSQI sleep latency	−0.041	−0.020	−0.179*	−0.102*	−0.136*
PSQI sleep duration	0.005	0.112*	−0.067**	−0.033	−0.020
PSQI sleep efficiency	0.002	0.028	−0.033	−0.009	−0.013
PSQI sleep disturbances	−0.084*	−0.035	−0.127*	−0.055**	−0.110*
PSQI sleeping medication	−0.231*	−0.041	−0.112*	−0.016	−0.131*
PSQI daytime dysfunction	−0.094*	−0.097*	−0.201*	−0.167*	−0.202*
PSQI total	−0.098*	−0.030	−0.242*	−0.136*	−0.197*

Note:

* p < 0.05 and

** p < 0.01.

Abbreviations: DBAS-16, Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale; PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.

Figure 1 Distribution of participants with respect to measures for improving sleep quality.

Table 4 PSQI scores in groups with different behaviors related to sleep

Measures	Yes	No	t	p-value
Improving the sleep environment	5.12 ± 2.366	5.31 ± 2.468	1.391	0.164
Developing good sleep habits	4.92 ± 2.311	5.55 ± 2.508	4.814	<0.001
Self-relaxation	5.07 ± 2.278	5.55 ± 2.678	3.273	0.001
Consulting a doctor	4.87 ± 2.449	5.26 ± 2.430	1.291	0.197
Strengthening physical exercise	4.86 ± 2.250	5.40 ± 2.491	3.923	<0.001
Taking sleeping pills	7.03 ± 3.365	5.19 ± 2.389	3.074	0.004
Reading	5.19 ± 2.544	5.26 ± 2.381	0.472	0.637
Taking no action	6.07 ± 2.678	5.12 ± 2.374	4.277	<0.001
Others	5.32 ± 2.322	5.23 ± 2.441	0.342	0.733

Notes: Data are mean ± SD. Significant results are highlighted in bold type.

Abbreviation: PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.