Abstract
The present study investigates ‘folk theories’ about the causes of insomnia. Participants with insomnia (n = 69) completed a qualitative and quantitative assessment of their folk theories. The qualitative assessment was to speak aloud for 1 min in response to: ‘What do you think causes your insomnia?’. The quantitative assessment involved completing the ‘Causal Attributions of My Insomnia Questionnaire’ (CAM-I), developed for this study. The three most common folk theories for both the causes of one’s own insomnia as well as insomnia in others were ‘emotions’, ‘thinking patterns’ and ‘sleep-related emotions’. Interventions targeting these factors were also perceived as most likely to be viable treatments. Seventy-five percent of the folk theories of insomnia investigated with the CAM-I were rated as more likely to be alleviated by a psychological versus a biological treatment. The results are consistent with research highlighting that folk theories are generally coherent and inform a range of judgments. Future research should focus on congruence of ‘folk theories’ between treatment providers and patients, and the role of folk theories in treatment choice, engagement, compliance and outcome.
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Acknowledgments
This project was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant RO1MH079188. We are grateful to Kerrie Hein & Manon Lamy (Project Co-ordinators), Jennifer Kanady, Jason Lee, Kate Kaplan & Eleanor McGlinchey (Assessors), Lisa S. Talbot, Polina Eidelman, Simon Beaulieu-Bonneau & Émilie Fortier-Brochu (Therapists) and Nicole Short (Coder) for their assistance with this study.
Conflict of Interest
Dr. Morin serves on consulting/advisory boards for Merck, Valeant, Purdue, Novartis, Eli Lilly and the speaker’s bureau for Valeant and Merck. The other authors have no conflict of interest disclosures.
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Harvey, A.G., Soehner, A., Lombrozo, T. et al. ‘Folk Theories’ About the Causes of Insomnia. Cogn Ther Res 37, 1048–1057 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9543-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9543-2