Date of Award

2019

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies

Specialization

Developmental Science

Department

Human Development and Family Studies

First Advisor

Sue Adams

Abstract

Insomnia has been correlated with several negative mental and physical health outcomes in female undergraduate students, a population with increasing interest when considering those suffering with insomnia. Considering the increased vulnerability reported by college students, and the poor outcomes of insomnia, it is important to determine correlates of insomnia and which factors differentially impact college students’ development of insomnia. This study examined whether interpersonal stress or the fear of missing out (i.e. FoMO) was more highly correlated with insomnia in a population of female undergraduate students at the University of Rhode Island. This study also examined whether levels of interpersonal stress, FoMO, and insomnia varied across students in different class years. Variables examined included levels of insomnia, FoMO, interpersonal stress, year in school, race, and age. An examination of the data using correlations and ANOVAs was utilized to determine if there were differences in students among the four class years in college and the correlations of insomnia with interpersonal stress and FoMO.

It was hypothesized that FoMO would be more highly correlated to insomnia than interpersonal stress would be correlated to insomnia. It was also hypothesized that all three measures would be significantly higher for first year students and seniors than for juniors and sophomores. No significant differences were found in students on any measure among the four class years. It was found that interpersonal stress was more highly correlated with insomnia than FoMO was correlated with insomnia. However, both interpersonal stress and FoMO were more highly correlated with each other than either was to insomnia. Each of these correlation analyses showed statistical significance. Therefore, neither hypothesis proposed by the researcher was supported. This study contributes to the literature showing that interpersonal stress and FoMO are related and that this relationship should be studied further in order to help students identify healthy coping strategies to deal with each and have successful college careers.

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