Dysregulated arousal as a pathway linking childhood neglect and clinical sleep disturbances in adulthood

A history of childhood maltreatment has a well-established association with clinical sleep disturbances in adulthood, which is a transdiagnostic contributor to many chronic diseases.

Determine whether actigraphy-measured indices of dysregulated arousal during sleep explain associations between abuse or neglect in childhood and clinical sleep disturbances in adulthood.

Participants were 646 individuals, ages 25-83 (59.3% female) from the MIDUS II Biomarker, Refresher studies.

Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, wore an actigraph for seven days, and rated sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Both neglect (b = 0.66, SE = 0.33, p = .04) and abuse (b = 1.09, SE = 0.32, p < .001) were associated with clinical sleep disturbance. Actigraphy-measured sleep efficiency mediated the link between neglect and clinical sleep disturbances (ab = 0.33, SE = 0.12, 95%CI [0.12, 0.57]). However, no such link between abuse and clinical sleep disturbances was mediated by actigraphy-measured indices. Sleep onset latency did not mediate the link between neglect or abuse and sleep disturbance. Models covaried for other maltreatment, gender, and age.

While the unique associations between abuse or neglect and clinical sleep disturbances were robust in this sample, only sleep efficiency emerged as a mediator linking maltreatment and clinical sleep disturbances. Critically, this mediation was specific to neglect. Abuse and neglect may lead to disease through distinct pathways. Moreover, potential dysregulation in arousal that leads to sleep inefficiency may be a specific pathway through which experiences of neglect in childhood contribute to chronic disease.