Childhood Trauma and Stressful Life Events Are Independently Associated with Sleep Disturbances in Adolescents

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical developmental period associated with an increase in stress, the appearance of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and changes in sleep patterns. Even though the disruption of sleep patterns in stress and anxiety and depressive disorders is well known, the independent effects of childhood trauma and stressful life events on sleep patterns are less understood. We tested the independent effects of stress (childhood trauma and stressful life events) while controlling for anxiety and depression on adolescent sleep patterns. Seven hundred fifty-two adolescents (age 12–15 years) completed self-report questionnaires about childhood trauma, stressful life events, anxiety, and depression. Four sleep factors identifying movement during sleep, sleep regularity, sleep disturbances, and sleep pressure were extracted in the principal component analysis of sleep questions. Both childhood trauma and recent stressful life events were significantly associated with sleep disturbances before and after controlling for anxiety and depression.

Can You Sleep? – Effect of Retrospective Recall of Child Maltreatment on Sleep Parameters and the Mediating Role of Psychological Distress Among Students of Two German Universities

“…In particular, the link between child maltreatment and parasomnias, such as nightmares, went unheeded so far, while the prevalence of nightmares seems to be higher for young adults with traumatic childhood experiences compared to those without liabilities. 30 In line with previous findings, 16,25,27 describing the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and sleep disturbances, the following hypothesis is derived (see Figure 1): H1: Experiences of child maltreatment increase sleep disturbances in early adulthood.…”

“…6 Thus, a high prevalence of sleep disturbances has been found among depressed individuals. 27,70 By providing empirical evidence on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and early adult sleep problems, this study contributes to bridging research gaps on the long-term effects of child maltreatment identified in a recent review. 6 The empirical model furthermore shows age but not gender to have a significant effect on sleep disturbances.…”

“…As described above, there is empirical evidence on the relationship between psychological distress and sleep disturbances (e.g. 27,61 ). In order to measure somatization, depression and anxiety in the preceding week we used the short version of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18).…”

“… 26 Additional empirical evidence for an independent effect of both child maltreatment and stressful life events on sleep disturbances while controlling for anxiety and depression was found. 27 Another study found an association between very early adversities (0–6 years) and nightmare severity. 28 A recent study of a cross-sectional German sample showed that impaired subjective sleep was significantly predicted by child maltreatment experiences and that this association was mediated by rumination and romantic relationship satisfaction.…”

The Relationship Between Stress Life Events and Adolescents' Sleep Problems: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…Physiologically, excessive stress negatively in uences sleep by activating the sympatho-adreno-medullary (SAM) and hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) systems which are related to attention and arousal (Han et al, 2012). Cross-sectional studies have con rmed the signi cant association between recent stressful life events and adolescents' sleep disturbances (Baddam et al, 2019;Li et al, 2019). Additionally, a longitudinal study of 15-to 17-year-old female adolescents has shown that within-person changes in stressful life events predicted variable sleep duration both concurrently and prospectively (Vidal Bustamante et al, 2020).…”