Objective: Emotion regulation difficulties have been associated with traumatic event exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and associated sleep disturbances. Dispositional mindfulness, the tendency to experience the present moment, on purpose with acceptance and nonjudgment, can be conceptualized as adaptive emotion regulation. While dispositional mindfulness has been associated with adaptive posttrauma outcomes, it has not been examined in relation to trauma sequelae, such as sleep disturbance. The current study aimed to expand upon previous research to further explore the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and trauma sequelae. Method: Participants (N ϭ 217) were recruited using Amazon's Mechanical Turk to complete online surveys assessing PTSD symptom severity (PTSS), sleep disturbance, emotion regulation difficulties, and mindfulness. Results: After controlling for PTSS, the results suggest that dispositional mindfulness is associated with lower frequency of PTSD-related sleep disturbance and better sleep quality (daily disturbances). Additionally, the results suggest that specific dispositional mindfulness domains remain significant when emotion regulation difficulties domains were included in the model. Conclusions: Future research should further examine this relationship to inform mindfulness-based interventions for PTSD and sleep disturbance. Clinical Impact StatementThe results of the current study suggest that the effectiveness of mindfulness-based treatments for trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related sleep disturbance should continue to be evaluated. Combined treatment may be especially useful considering the effect of sleep on cognitive processing necessary for successful participation in interventions.

The current study examined a conceptual model of the association between potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) and depression symptoms. It was hypothesized that interpersonal needs (i.e., perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness) would independently mediate the relationship between PMIEs and depression symptoms, while emotion dysregulation would moderate the associations. Individuals who experienced a traumatic event and were residing in the United States (N = 147) completed a cross‐sectional questionnaire containing measures of PMIEs, interpersonal needs, emotion dysregulation and depression symptoms. Results indicated that the indirect effect through perceived burdensomeness was significant at high levels of emotion dysregulation, whereas the indirect effect through thwarted belongingness was non‐significant. Additionally, emotion dysregulation moderated each pathway, with the exception of the direct effects from PMIEs to depression symptoms. The proposed model may be informative for researchers and clinicians interested in the association between PMIEs and depression symptoms. The results may encourage the use of emotion regulation strategies to assist patients suffering from depression symptoms, especially when exposure to a PMIE has occurred.

No abstract