Mediation Effect of Insomnia Symptoms Between Positive Psychotic Like Experiences and Suicidal Ideation Among Lebanese Young Adults

Overview

Journal BMC Psychiatry

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2023 Apr 20

PMID 37081441

Authors

Nour Farah

Sahar Obeid

Diana Malaeb

Chadia Haddad

Feten Fekih-Romdhane

Souheil Hallit

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Psychotic symptoms reported by healthy individuals in the general population are referred to as psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and have been proven to increase the risk of suicidal ideation (SI) in these individuals. As it is well established that PLEs and insomnia share a bidirectional association and also that insomnia is linked to SI, we hypothesized that insomnia may represent a mediator underlying the relationship between PLEs and SI. Our aim was to validate this hypothesis among Lebanese young adults.

Methods: A total of 3103 young adults (mean age 21.73 ± 3.80 years; 63.6% females) recruited from all Lebanese governorates completed a self-administered online questionnaire. PLEs were assessed using the CAPE-42 scale, SI using the Columbia Suicide Rating Scale, and insomnia using the Insomnia Severity Index). We conducted a mediation analysis using SPSS PROCESS v3.4 model 4 with three pathways. Variables that showed a p < 0.25 in the bivariate analysis were entered in the path analysis.

Results: A total of 1378 participants (44.4%) had insomnia; 18.8% had SI; 42.5% reported at least one positive PE 'nearly always', and 30.5% reported at least one negative PE with this frequency. The results of the mediation analysis showed that insomnia severity partially mediated the association between positive dimension and SI; higher positive dimension was significantly associated with more insomnia severity, which was, in turn, significantly associated with more SI. Finally, more positive dimension was significantly and directly associated with more SI.

Conclusion: These preliminary findings might encourage the implementation of new preventive measures to reduce SI among PLEs patients. Treating symptoms of insomnia might help reduce the risk of suicide.

Citing Articles

Psychotic experiences and psychological distress in adolescents: an examination of longitudinal bidirectional effects across sex.

Fekih-Romdhane F, Houissa L, Loch A, Cheour M, Hallit S Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2024; 18(1):124.

PMID: 39363384 PMC: 11451065. DOI: 10.1186/s13034-024-00825-w.

Editorial: Psychotic experiences and symptoms in adolescents and young adults from different countries and cultural backgrounds.

Fekih-Romdhane F, Obeid S, Hallit S Front Psychiatry. 2023; 14:1275061.

PMID: 37732082 PMC: 10507397. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1275061.

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