Objective and subjective sleep patterns and biomarkers of stress among women with a history of sexual abuse in childhood

Abstract

Objective: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) and sleep disturbance into adulthood. The latter is thought to emerge from dysregulation in biobehavioral systems, including nighttime hyperarousal; however, studies investigating specific mechanisms to explain these long-term sleep problems are limited. The present study examined presleep arousal, fear of sleep, and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) as putative mediators between PTSS and sleep disturbance in women with a history of CSA.

Method: N = 64 cis-gendered women with a self-reported history of CSA completed a baseline diagnostic interview, self-reported mental health and sleep measures, 7 days of actigraphy monitoring with concurrent sleep diary, and 2 days of saliva sampling.

Results: PTSSs were not significantly associated with actigraphy-estimated sleep variables but were positively associated with self-reported sleep onset latency (SOL) and negatively associated with self-reported sleep quality. Similarly, PTSSs were not significantly associated with CAR but were associated with higher presleep arousal and fear of sleep ratings. Mediational models identified greater presleep cognitive arousal to partially explain the PTSS-SOL relationship. Specific features of CSA (i.e., age at time of abuse, location of abuse, relationship to the perpetrator) did not moderate this association.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that targeting maladaptive cognitions (e.g., worries, rumination) that occur during the presleep period may be a potential intervention target in mitigating sleep disturbance and PTSSs in this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).