Progressive relaxation training : effects upon insomnia, psychosomatic complaints, and general anxiety in a population of university students
Date
1977
Authors
Thatcher, H. Stanton
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Abstract
Progressive Relaxation Training (PRT) was used as the therapeutic agent to help university students who experienced moderate insomnia . It was hypothesized that PRT would provide subjects with skills to relax themselves and provide an attention focusing mechanism, thereby allowing sleep onset to occur more rapidly. A second hypothesis based on the work of Goldfried (1971), was that the Progressive Relaxation Training group would have a significant reduction in general anxiety, as well as a significant reduction in tension related psychosomatic complaints following training. Subjects were tested for anxiety a s measured by the Interpersonal Anxiety Test, for psychosomatic complaints as measured by the Thatcher Psychosomatic Test, and for sleep problems as measured by the General Sleep Questionnaire. Sleep onset latency times and difficulty in going to sleep were recorded daily in a sleep log. Training consisted of five weekly one hour group sessions, in which subjects were instructed in PRT, and trained to recognize the feelings of relaxation. Subjects were instructed to practice the technique once daily, the last thing before trying to fall asleep.
Following training all instruments were readministered. Analysis of covariance revealed no reductions in general anxiety, but a significant reduction in psychosomatic complaints. Analysis of variance on the sleep onset and difficulty data failed to achieve significance. Explanations for the lack of significance are discussed.