A bidirectional relationship between anxiety and depression, and insomnia? : A prospective study in the general population

• Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether there is a bidirectional relationship between on the one hand anxiety and depression and on the other hand insomnia over the course of a year.Methods: A randomly selected sample of 3,000 participants from the general population filled out a baseline (N = 1,812) and 1-year follow-up survey (N = 1,498) on anxiety, depression, and insomnia.Results: In cross-sectional analyses, bivariate correlations showed that anxiety, depression, and insomnia were significantly inter-correlated (φ = .31-.54). In prospective analyses, logistic regression analyses demonstrated that baseline anxiety (OR = 4.27, 8% of the variance) and baseline depression (OR = 2.28, 2% of the variance) were related to new cases of insomnia at follow-up. Further, baseline insomnia was related to new episodes of high anxiety and high depression at follow-up (OR = 2.30, 2% of the variance; OR = 3.51; 4% of the variance).Conclusion: Evidence suggested that there is a bidirectional relationship between on the one hand anxiety and depression and on the other hand insomnia. This suggests that anxiety, depression, and insomnia are intertwined over time, which has implications for theoretical conceptualizations and interventions.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Psychology

Psykologi

Psychology

Psykologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)