INSOMNIACS PERCEIVED LACK OF CONTROL OVER SLEEP

It is widely assumed that insomniacs have poor self-efficacy for sleep and it is known that successful treatment is usually accompanied by i mproved self-efficacy. However, there has been little detailed investi gation of insomniacs perceived lack of control over sleep. Insomniacs' perceived control over sleep itself is affected more than their perce ived control over pre-sleep mental activity or physical tension. It wa s hypothesised that insomniacs would diverge from controls more in the ir sense that sleep was out of their control than that sleep was under their control, though this was not supported by the data. Also, there was no clear support for the idea that insomniacs' dissatisfaction wi th their control over sleep was the product of excessive aspirations f or control. One factor that seems likely to contribute to insomniacs' lack of perceived control over sleep is that they do not have as lawfu l a pattern of expectations of sleep, based on their recent pattern of sleep, as normal sleepers do. Insomniacs, like non-insomniacs, were m ost likely to attribute poor sleep to external stresses and an over-ac tive mind. Insomniacs showed a wide range of heightened emotional reac tions to poor sleep. The implications of the results for self-regulati on approaches to the treatment of insomnia are discussed.