Adverse Childhood Experiences and Insufficient Sleep up to 50 Years Later
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-21-2019
Publication Title
Sleep
DOI
10.1093/sleep/zsz087
ISSN
1550-9109
Abstract
Study Objectives
The main objective for this study was to assess the association of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and subsequent short sleep duration among adults.
Methods
This cross-sectional examination used data from the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a nationwide telephone-administered survey. Participants completed a standardized questionnaire to report childhood experiences of abuse, neglect, household challenges, and sleep time. Multinominal logistic regression analyses included survey weighting procedures and adjusted for age, race, education, income, sex, and body mass index; associations were also examined by age strata, using age as a proxy for time since ACEs occurred.
Results
Complete data were available for 22 403 adults (mean age = 46.66 years) including 14 587 (65%) with optimum sleep duration (7–9 h/night) and 2069 (9%) with short sleep duration (/night). Compared with adults with optimum sleep duration, the number of ACEs was associated with the odds of short sleep duration (odds ratio [OR] = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.16 to 1.28), and the odds increased as the number of ACEs increased. The association held for each decade of age until the 60s, although the magnitude attenuated. Mental health challenges or poor physical health did not account for the association.
Conclusion
ACEs increased the odds of chronic short sleep duration during adulthood and showed both a time-dependent and dose–response nature. These associations were independent of self-reported mental health challenges or poor physical health. The association of ACEs with short sleep duration throughout the adult lifespan emphasizes the importance of child health and identifying underlying psychological challenges in adults with sleep difficulties.
Recommended Citation
Sullivan, Kelly L., Haresh Rochani, Li-Ting Huang, Diane K. Donley, Jian Zhang.
2019.
"Adverse Childhood Experiences and Insufficient Sleep up to 50 Years Later."
Sleep, 42 (7): Oxford University Press.
doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsz087
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/bee-facpubs/194
Comments
This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)