No abstract

Background Early life traumatic events and recent stressful events are known to have especially strong effects on emotional wellbeing. However, little is known about the interaction of early and recent stressors on emotions. We aimed to examine the interactive effects of early trauma and recent stressors on depression, anxiety, and anger. Methods One hundred and seventy adults were recruited and asked to complete the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the state anxiety subscale of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), and the state anger subscale of the State–Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-S). Early traumas and recent stressors were assessed during face-to-face interviews. Multiple regression analysis was performed to test whether early trauma, recent stressors, and the interaction of the two would predict CES-D, STAI-S, and STAXI-S scores. Results In the multiple regression models, STAI-S scores were predicted only by recent stressors ( R 2 = 0.063, p = 0.001). In contrast, CES-D and STAXI-S scores were predicted only by the synergistic interaction of early trauma with recent stressors ( R 2 = 0.075, p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.039, p = 0.01, respectively). Conclusions A synergistic interaction effect between early trauma and recent stressful events on current depression and anger was observed, indicating that the combined effects of early trauma and recent stressors are stronger than their individual effects. In contrast, anxiety was affected mainly by recent stressors. Our findings suggest that the form that emotional disturbance takes can vary depending on the timing of stressors.

Insomnia is affected by various predisposing factors, precipitating factors, and their interactions [1]. Among them, hyperarousal and stress dysregulation have been suggested as the main causes of insomnia. According to this theoretical model, both sleep reactivity, as a predisposing factor, and the stressful events, as a precipitating factor, are important to the development of insomnia.Exposure to stressors activates the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, which increases adrenaline levels and disturbs sleep [2,3]. However, there are large individual differences in the amount of sleep disturbance experienced, even in response to the similar stressful events. To explain these inter-individual differences, studies have suggested the concept of sleep reactivity, a trait defined by the degree to which stressors disrupt sleep. A number of factors, such as ge-Objective: The current study explored the influences of the association between insomnia and stressful events on the state or trait anger in community-dwelling adults. Methods: In total, 175 community-dwelling adults (101 females and 74 males, mean age, 41.30±8.45 years) were recruited. All participants completed a self-reported questionnaire to assess insomnia and the Korean version of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Stressful life events during the last 6 months were also assessed in face to face interviews. Participants were divided into four groups based on the presence or absence of insomnia or recent stressful life events. Results: State anger (S-Anger), trait anger (T-Anger), anger temperament (T-Anger/T), and anger reaction (T-Anger/R) differed significantly among the four groups according to insomnia and stressful events. Among normal sleepers, those with stressors showed higher T-Anger and T-Anger/R scores than those without stressors. Among those who experienced stressful life events, the S-Anger scores were higher in those with than in those without insomnia. Subjects who experienced insomnia after stressful events exhibited higher scores in all anger categories compared to normal sleepers without stressful events. Conclusion: The present study provides support for an association between sleep reactivity after stressors and the anger. Stress-related insomnia is associated with state and trait anger in community-dwelling adults.