EFFICACY OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR AND RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ONINSOMNIA AMONG STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1         Background to the Study

Higher institutions of learning like the universitiesare dominated in number by young adult students,transitingto a world of relative freedom, new experiences and choices, and based on the choices they made, their campus and off-campus experiences can contribute to healthor disorderpromoting lifestyles and ultimately relate to their quality of lives and school activities.

National Sleep Foundation (2005), reported that young adults are at greater risk than other age groups for developing first onset psychopathology (mental/behaviour disorder), which may lead to lower social and academic performance, lethargy and worse long-term outcomes such as school dropout and possibly poor productivity at work or school. The foundation also noted that majority of students due to new environment; life experiences and choices at schoolreceive significantly less sleep. A survey in 26 of 36 States in Nigeria on the prevalence of insomnia showed that 25.68% of people aged 18 – 30 years had insomnia (Gureje, Oladeji, Abiona, Makanjuola &Esan, 2011). A national survey in US byHicks and Pellegrini (2001), showed that 68.3% of College students reported sleep problems, against 26.7% found in 1982.This suggests an upward trend. In 2009, Lund, Reider, Whiting and Prichard,found 60% of College students reported poor sleep quality. Approximately 35% of students‘ population with sleep problems have reported experience of insomnia during the course of a year in school (Walsh, Benca & Bonnet, 1999), 11.4% reported that their symptoms started when they were between 21 and 30 years old (Hardison, Neimeyer, & Lichstein, 2005).

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A study in Europe using randomly selected young adults ages 21-30 years found that 16.6% reported experiencing insomnia. About 45% of these young adults with insomnia continued to report sleep problems at a 3.5-year follow-up (Breslau, Roth, Rosenthal,& Andreski, 1996). Out of over 1,000 College students surveyed by Taylor and Bramoweth (2010), 6.8% of the students with insomnia used medication (either prescription or over the counter) to help them sleep and 11.4% used alcohol as a sleep aid.What precipitates and perpetuates insomnia among students‘ population may vary from medical to non-medical reasons.However, studies by Tagaya, Uchiyama, Ohida, Kamei, and Shibuti (2004), reported that pressure from academic workload was one of the reasons for sleep disturbance among students. Aside academic pressure, social activities, social pressures, and college cultures contributed to the problem.

EFFICACY OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR AND RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ONINSOMNIA AMONG STUDENTS