An Epidemiologic Study of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adult Sleep Disturbances
Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Psychological trauma: Theory, research, practice, and policy
Abstract
Objective: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is linked to negative consequences, including insomnia. Few studies have examined enduring effects of CSA on adult insomnia. Given the relationship between sleep and poor health, a better understanding of these effects has clinical implications. Method: We used a representative sample of adult twins. Both men and women were assessed with a broad variable representative of CSA, while a subset of females (n=424) were given additional items that captured escalating physical contact and abuse characteristics. A sum score of past month insomnia symptoms was calculated from the shortened version of the SCL-90. Logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of CSA on insomnia symptoms, as well as the effects of physical contact and incident characteristics. Results: Of the full sample (n=8184), 9.8% reported broad CSA. CSA significantly predicted insomnia symptoms in the female sample (n=1407) (OR=1.67, 95% CI=1.35–2.06, p<0.0001). The continuum of physical contact did not predict sleep. On a univariate level, more than one perpetrator and feeling forced/threatened increased risk for sleep problems, while having a male perpetrator (vs. female or multiple perpetrators) decreased risk. These associations did not hold at a multivariate level. In the mixed-sex sample (n=6777), we replicated our CSA finding (OR=1.65, 95% CI=1.34–2.03, p<0.0001) and found that female gender (OR=1.16, 95% CI=1.03–1.30, p=0.0125) was significant. However, the female gender*CSA interaction was not significant. Conclusion: CSA predicts insomnia symptoms in adults 25–30 years post-abuse, but the small sample size for incident characteristics (n=424) resulted in limited conclusions about associated risk. (Author Abstract)
Description
item.page.type
Article
item.page.format
Keywords
child abuse, long term effects, psychological effects, research
Citation
Lind, M. J., Aggen, S. H., Kendler, K. S., York, T. P., & Amstadter, A. B. (2016). An epidemiologic study of childhood sexual abuse and adult sleep disturbances. Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 8(2), 198.