Abstract: Objective To investigate the prevalence of insomnia in college students and analyze the correlation between insomnia and perceived stress. Methods A cluster sampling method was used to investigate the prevalence of insomnia and stress levels in 3702 college students using Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10). Results Insomnia was detected in 31.4% of the college students, and the symptoms were more severe in male students (t=2.047, P=0.041) and in those with poorer family economic conditions (F=20.423, P<0.001). Insomnia was positively correlated with perceived stress, perceived distress, and perceived coping ability, with correlation coefficients of 0.42, 0.38, and 0.31, respectively (P<0.001). The students with higher levels of perceived stress had higher insomnia scores (F=203.03, P<0.001) and higher detection rate of insomnia (χ2=359.784, P<0.001), and those with moderate or severe insomnia also had higher levels of perceived stress (F=293.569, P<0.001). The types of perceived stress among college students included incontrollable (15.3%), nervous (8.3% ), vulnerable (23.0% ) and the relaxed types (53.5% ). The incontrollable type was associated with the highest insomnia scores, followed by the nervous type and susceptible type, and the relaxed type had the lowest insomnia scores (F=185.969, P<0.001). The prevalence rates of insomnia in students with the 4 types of perceived stress were 57.3%, 43.3%, 39.3%, and 18.7%, respectively (χ2=368.876, P<0.001). Conclusion There is a close correlation between perceived stress and insomnia, and identification of the high-risk population for insomnia from the perspectives of perceived stress level and perceived stress type can facilitate the management and prevention of insomnia.

Key words: college students; insomnia; perceived stress; perceived stress type