Lead. What if counting sheep, the classic trick for falling asleep, actually works backwards? A new study suggests that distracting yourself from uncomfortable body sensations before bed may be counterproductive, and that the people who sleep best are the ones who do the opposite: they pay attention. Researchers at a mid-Atlantic university have identified a trait called interoceptive not-distracting as a novel predictor of insomnia symptom severity in college students, with findings that could reshape how sleep interventions are designed for young adults.
The study, published June 16 in Sleep Advances, surveyed 420 university students using three validated instruments: the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness 2 (MAIA-2), the Pre-sleep Arousal Scale, and the Insomnia Severity Index. The goal was to determine which dimensions of interoceptive awareness, the ability to perceive and attend to signals from one’s own body, best predicted insomnia severity, and whether pre-sleep arousal mediated the relationship.
What they found. Of the eight interoceptive dimensions measured by the MAIA-2, one stood out: not-distracting. This factor captures the tendency to avoid ignoring or distracting oneself from bodily sensations of pain or discomfort. The core finding was that higher scores on not-distracting (meaning a person is less inclined to push away uncomfortable body feelings) significantly predicted lower pre-sleep arousal (b = -0.12, p < .001), which in turn predicted lower insomnia severity. In statistical terms, pre-sleep arousal fully mediated the relationship between not-distracting and insomnia symptoms, with a 95 percent confidence interval of -0.25 to -0.11 that did not cross zero, confirming a reliable indirect effect.
Put simply, students who habitually acknowledged uncomfortable physical sensations rather than trying to tune them out reported less racing thoughts and physical tension at bedtime, and consequently suffered less from insomnia. The finding held after controlling for other interoceptive dimensions such as body listening, emotional awareness, and self-regulation, suggesting that the specific habit of not distracting oneself carries unique protective value for sleep.
The researchers also confirmed that pre-sleep arousal, which captures both cognitive arousal (worry, racing mind) and somatic arousal (heart racing, tension), was itself a strong predictor of insomnia severity in the sample. That pattern is well established in the sleep literature. The novel contribution here is identifying which interoceptive tendency feeds into that arousal pathway.
Why it matters. The finding challenges a common cultural assumption about falling asleep. For decades, the folk wisdom of counting sheep or using other mental distractions to drift off has been passed down as harmless sleep hygiene. This study suggests that for some people, especially those prone to insomnia, distraction may be working against the body’s natural sleep signals.
Interoceptive awareness is a trainable skill. Mindfulness-based interventions, body scan meditations, and certain types of cognitive behavioral therapy already teach people to notice and sit with uncomfortable sensations rather than avoid them. If not-distracting is genuinely protective against insomnia, these interventions could be more directly applied to sleep problems in young adults.
College students are a particularly high-risk group. The study authors note that emerging adults face an array of sleep disruptors: late-night device use, academic rumination, social anxiety, and irregular schedules all contribute to elevated pre-sleep arousal. An estimated 30 to 50 percent of college students report clinically significant sleep problems, and insomnia is among the most common. Interventions that work within this population’s developmental context, and that do not rely on prescription medication, are urgently needed.
A practical implication is that sleep hygiene advice could be updated. Instead of telling a restless student to distract themselves from physical discomfort or anxious thoughts, clinicians might encourage them to notice those sensations with curiosity and without judgment. Rather than reaching for a phone to escape the feeling of being wired at bedtime, the student might learn to let the feeling be present while allowing sleep to arrive in its own time.
Limits. The study has important limitations. Its cross-sectional design means the researchers measured all variables at a single time point, so causal direction cannot be firmly established. It is possible that people who already sleep well are simply more able to tolerate uncomfortable bodily sensations, rather than that not-distracting causes better sleep. Longitudinal and experimental designs are needed to clarify directionality.
The sample was drawn from a single university in the mid-Atlantic United States, which limits generalizability. The 420 participants were likely fairly homogeneous in age, education, and socioeconomic background. Replication in more diverse populations, including older adults, clinical insomnia patients, and different cultural contexts, is necessary before the findings can be broadly applied.
Additionally, the study relied entirely on self-report measures. Interoceptive awareness as measured by questionnaire may not align perfectly with behavioral or physiological measures of interoception, and self-reported insomnia severity does not always correspond to objective sleep metrics such as actigraphy or polysomnography. Future studies incorporating objective sleep measurement would strengthen the evidence base.
Bottom line. The tendency to not distract oneself from bodily discomfort is a novel, independent predictor of lower insomnia severity in college students, and this relationship runs through reduced pre-sleep arousal. The finding suggests that interventions aimed at building interoceptive awareness, rather than encouraging distraction, could be a useful addition to sleep treatments for young adults. More research is needed to confirm causality and generalizability, but for students struggling with insomnia, the old advice to just stop thinking about it may be exactly wrong.
Source. LoBrutto LR et al. “No more counting sheep? Interoceptive not-distracting as a novel predictor of insomnia symptom severity in college students.” Sleep Advances, 2026 Jun 16;7(3):zpag062. DOI: 10.1093/sleepadvances/zpag062. PMID: 42483484.