On Repeat? Maladaptive Repetitive Thinking as a Moderator Between Academic Stress and Sleep Quality in Students

Challenges in stress management, effective attention direction, and striving for adequate sleep are reflected in a student’s life and academic performance. According to recent research, decreased attentional control is related to an increased tendency to engage in maladaptive repetitive thinking (RT) i.e., rumination and worry, which has been considered as a threat to sleep quality. Furthermore, an increase in academic stress has been found to impair students' sleep quality. Using moderation analysis, the current study investigated whether maladaptive RT strengthened the relationship between academic stress and sleep quality. We used linear regression analysis (LRA) to investigate the relationship between attentional control and maladaptive RT. A number of self- report questionnaires were used in this cross-sectional study to measure attentional control, sleep quality, academic stress, worry, and rumination. The final sample consisted of 50 Leiden University students aged 17-30...Show moreChallenges in stress management, effective attention direction, and striving for adequate sleep are reflected in a student’s life and academic performance. According to recent research, decreased attentional control is related to an increased tendency to engage in maladaptive repetitive thinking (RT) i.e., rumination and worry, which has been considered as a threat to sleep quality. Furthermore, an increase in academic stress has been found to impair students' sleep quality. Using moderation analysis, the current study investigated whether maladaptive RT strengthened the relationship between academic stress and sleep quality. We used linear regression analysis (LRA) to investigate the relationship between attentional control and maladaptive RT. A number of self- report questionnaires were used in this cross-sectional study to measure attentional control, sleep quality, academic stress, worry, and rumination. The final sample consisted of 50 Leiden University students aged 17-30 years. The results of the simple LRA showed that poor attentional control is related to a higher tendency of maladaptive RT, such as rumination and worry. The result of the moderation analysis revealed that neither rumination (b = -.001, t = -0.90, p = .930) nor worry (b = - .003, t = -0.73, p = .471) strengthened the relationship between increased academic stress and poor sleep quality. Despite its limitations, the study serves as a preliminary study into the role of rumination and worry in the relationship between academic stress and sleep quality and provides methodological suggestions for future research to yield more reliable results.Show less

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On Repeat? Maladaptive Repetitive Thinking as a Moderator Between Academic Stress and Sleep Quality in Students