Anticipatory Stress as a Predictor of Psychological Distress and Sleep Disturbance

Abstract

Anticipatory stress is a psychological and physiological pressure that is caused in regard to the anticipated future need or threat (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Grupe and Nitschke, 2013). Whereas much research has been conducted on stress, much of the recent scholarship has focused on anticipatory stress as its own concept and predictive capacity of mental health outcomes, specifically in connection with future-related cognitive appraisal (Barlow et al., 2016). The ongoing experiment examines anticipatory stress as an indicator of psychological distress and sleeping disorder within the adult population. A non-clinical adult sample with standardized self-reports measures was collected using a quantitative, cross-sectional design. The Anticipatory Stress Scale was used to measure anticipatory stress, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21; Lovibond and Lovibond, 2005) were the measures of psychological distress, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure sleep disturbance (Buysse et al., 2009). The use of Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression tests investigated the relationships and predictive relationships. The results show that the levels of anticipatory stress were high predictors of psychological distress and worse quality of sleep as has been previously reported, with cognitive hyperarousal and worry associated with emotional distress and poor sleep (Harvey, 2002). These findings support anticipatory stress as a crucial cognitive-emotional mechanism that brings about mental health vulnerability and sleeping issues. This paper highlights the significance of early prediction and prevention measures against anticipatory stress to enhance psychological well-being and sleep.