Sleep in the wake of complicated grief symptoms: An exploratory study

Our aim was to explore the concept that the symptoms of complicated grief may be a form of posttraumatic distress, rather than depression, and thus may have different effects on sleep. Sixty-five recently bereaved elders with varying levels of symptoms of complicated grief and depression were strati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological psychiatry (1969) 1997-03, Vol.41 (6), p.710-716
Main Authors: McDermott, Owen D., Prigerson, Holly G., Reynolds, Charles F., Houck, Patricia R., Dew, Mary Amanda, Hall, Martica, Mazumdar, Sati, Buysse, Daniel J., Hoch, Carolyn C., Kupfer, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Complicated grief
depression
Depressive Disorder - physiopathology
Electroencephalography
Emotions - physiology
Female
Geriatrics
Grief
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Polysomnography
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
sleep
Sleep - physiology
Sleep, REM - physiology
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Summary:Our aim was to explore the concept that the symptoms of complicated grief may be a form of posttraumatic distress, rather than depression, and thus may have different effects on sleep. Sixty-five recently bereaved elders with varying levels of symptoms of complicated grief and depression were stratified by high versus low levels of symptoms; a two-way analysis of variance examined main effects of level of complicated grief symptoms and depressive symptoms on selected sleep measures, as well as interactions. Complicated grief symptoms were independently associated with mild subjective sleep impairment but showed no main effects on electroencephalographic (EEG) sleep measures. In a multiple regression analysis, complicated grief symptoms interacted with depressive symptoms to increase REM sleep percent. Thus, it appears that complicated grief symptoms do not entail the changes of EEG sleep physiology seen in depression, with the possible exception of an interaction with coexisting depression to enhance REM sleep percent.
ISSN:0006-3223
1873-2402
DOI:10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00118-7