PERCEPTIONS OF LIFE STRESS AND CHRONIC INSOMNIA IN OLDER ADULTS

This study compared the level of self-reported stress of 42 older good sleepers (M age = 68.2 years) and 42 poor sleepers (M age = 68.7 year s). The relations among subjective ratings of sleep, level of perceive d stress, and negative mood were analyzed far each group. Good and poo r sleepers reported similar amounts of life stress, but the relations between life stress and sleep perceptions differed for the 2 groups. S pecifically, within the group of poor sleepers, those with higher life stress had greater difficulty falling asleep and less early morning w aking than did poor sleepers with lower life stress. There was no asso ciation between life stress and any sleep measures for good sleepers. These results are compatible with the notion that good and poor sleepe rs may have different susceptibilities to poor sleep despite experienc ing similar stressful life events.