The Nocturnal Return of Neglected Regrets: Deficits in Regret Anticipation Predict Insomnia Symptoms

Abstract

Cognitive accounts of insomnia generally assume that excessive mental activity at bedtime constitutes a central impediment to the process of falling asleep, yet the affective aspects of this mental hyperactivity still remain largely unex- plored. The present study explored whether failures in regret anticipation might lead to a rise of regret-related counterfac- tual thoughts and emotions at bedtime, thereby hindering or interrupting sleep. A sample of 105 undergraduate students completed the newly developed Regret Anticipation Failures Scale (RAFS), the Bedtime Counterfactual Processing Ques- tionnaire (BCPQ), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Analyses revealed that both regret anticipation failures and bed- time counterfactual processing were related to insomnia severity and that the effect of regret anticipation failures on in- somnia was mediated by the frequency of regret-related thoughts and emotions at bedtime. These findings reveal for the first time that failures in antecedent-focused emotion regulation may contribute to sleeping difficulties.