The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in the Relationship Between Sleep Disturbances and PTSD Symptom Severity

Emotion dysregulation is implicated in the development, maintenance, and treatment of sleep disturbances and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) separately. However, few studies have assessed interactions among these variables. To address this gap, this study examined whether the associations of sleep quality and sleep quantity with PTSD severity were stronger at higher levels of negative and positive emotion dysregulation in a community sample of 199 trauma-exposed individuals. This study found that both poorer sleep quality and lower sleep quantity were associated with greater PTSD severity at low to average (but not high) levels of negative emotion dysregulation. Positive emotion dysregulation did not moderate the relationships between sleep quality or quantity and PTSD severity. Exploratory additive multiple moderation analyses showed significant associations between poorer sleep quality and lower sleep quantity with greater PTSD severity at low to average levels of negative emotion dysregulation, coupled with any level of positive emotion dysregulation. Findings inform theoretical perspectives on the sleep-PTSD relationship and clinical applications of targeting emotion dysregulation in the treatment of sleep disturbances and PTSD symptoms for trauma-exposed individuals.