The Mediating Role of Negative Repetitive Thoughts in the Relationship between Brain Behavioral Systems and Insomnia Severity in Students

Insomnia is a prevalent mental disorder in student. Therefore, the aim of present study was to investigate the mediating role of negative repetitive thoughts in the relationship between brain behavioral systems and insomnia severity in students. In this descriptive-correlational study, 210 students of Shahrood University of Technology were selected by stage cluster sampling method. The participants completed BIS/BAS scales (Carver & White, 1994), Penn state worry questionnaire (Meyer et al., 1990), ruminative response scale (Treynor et al., 2003) and insomnia severity index (Bastien et al. 2001). Data were analyzed by SPSS and LISREL software, using Pearson correlation and path analysis. The result showed that behavioral inhibition system predicted higher negative repetitive thoughts, which, in turn, predicted higher insomnia in students (p<0.05). Also, negative repetitive thoughts mediated the relationship between brain behavioral systems and insomnia severity in students (p<0.05). The results of this study emphasize the importance of behavioral inhibition system and negative repetitive thoughts in insomnia severity in students. In other words, students with a more sensitive behavioral inhibition system experience more severe insomnia through negative repetitive thoughts.