Cited by 80Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthSleep and related disordersDeath, Funerary Practices, and Mourning

Sleep disturbances in bereavement: a systematic review

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Lancel, Marike, Stroebe, Margaret, Eisma, Maarten C.·2020·Sleep Medicine Reviews

Abstract

Severe, persistent and disabling grief occurs among a sizable minority experiencing bereavement, with diagnostic manuals newly including complicated grief (CG) disorders. Sleep disturbances/disorders have been established as worsening affective and stress-related conditions. However, the role of sleep difficulties in bereavement and CG has not received similar scientific attention. We therefore conducted a systematic review with narrative syntheses on this topic to clarify the role of sleep in bereavement (PROSPERO: CRD42018093145). We searched PubMed, Web of Science and PsychInfo for peer-reviewed English-language articles including (at least one) bereaved sample and sleep disturbance measure. We identified 85 articles on 12.294 participants. We answered seven pre-defined research questions demonstrating: high prevalence of sleep disturbances in bereavement; positive associations of grief intensity with sleep difficulties; preliminary indications of risk factors of post-loss sleep disturbance; higher prevalence of sleep disturbances in CG, enhanced by psychiatric comorbidity (i.e., depression); and initial evidence of causal relationships between (complicated) grief and sleep. Grief therapy partly improves sleep difficulties, yet no intervention studies have specifically targeted sleep problems in bereaved persons. Causal relationships between sleep and grief require further examination in intensive longitudinal investigations, including randomized trials, thereby clarifying whether treating sleep problems enhances CG treatment effects.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Stroebe M, Schut H, Stroebe W. Health consequences of bereavement: a review. Lancet 2007;370:1960e73. *
  2. Byrne GJ, Raphael B. The psychological symptoms of conjugal bereave- ment in elderly men over the first 13 months. Int J Geriatr Psychiatr 1997;12:241e51.
  3. Okajima I, Nakajima S, Kobayashi M, Inoue Y. Development and validation of the Japanese version of the Athens insomnia scale. Psychiatr Clin Neurosci 2013;67:420e5.

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Authors
Lancel, M., Stroebe, M., & Eisma, M. C.
Affiliations
University of Groningen (NL)
Corresponding author
Lancel, Marike
Venue
Sleep Medicine Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-10
Volume
53
Pages
101331
ISSN
1087-0792 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3028395088
Cited by
80
References
112
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 1
FWCI
0.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Sleep Medicine Reviews (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (636310014)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
Keywords
sleep disorders, bereavement, complicated grief, grief intensity, depression, psychiatric comorbidity, grief therapy
MeSH terms
Bereavement, Depression, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Surveys and Questionnaires, Comorbidity, Prevalence

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