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Improving sleep in a population at high risk of trauma: A pilot study examining self-reported sleep, psychological symptomology and actigraphy measured night-time sleep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

D. Maguire ,
C. Armour ,
S. Lagdon ,
M. Ruddock ,
T. Moore  and
M. Milanak
D. Maguire
Affiliation:
Queen’s University Belfast, School Of Psychology, Belfast, United Kingdom
C. Armour
Affiliation:
Queen’s University Belfast, Psychology, Belfast, United Kingdom
S. Lagdon
Affiliation:
Ulster University, Psychology, Coleraine, United Kingdom
M. Ruddock
Affiliation:
Randox Health, Bioscience, Belfast, United Kingdom
T. Moore
Affiliation:
Ulster University, Psychology, Coleraine, United Kingdom
M. Milanak*
Affiliation:
Medical University of South Carolina, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Charleston, United States of America
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Sleep disturbances (SDs), such as insomnia or regular nightmares, are associated with multiple mental health disorders, most notably PTSD, where SDs are reported in up to 92% of cases. Examining the effect of changing sleep on psychological symptomology is essential to develop the evidence base on the contribution of sleep to mental resilience.

Objectives

To examine the effect a short skills-based sleep intervention on psychological symptomology and actigraphy measured sleep.

Methods

A 4-session sleep skills training programme was used to treat active SDs in participants likely to have experienced occupation-associated trauma, namely military and first responders.

Results

Nineteen participants were included in the study. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) measured; difficulty sleeping, difficulty staying asleep, waking too early, sleep satisfaction, sleep interference on quality of life and total ISI insomnia score improved significantly post-treatment (M = 9.44, SE = 7.35, p <0.001). No significant difference was identified post-treatment for actigraphy-measured sleep. The severity of depression (M = 5.27, SE = 1.41, p = 0.002), anxiety (M = 5.07, SE = 1.66, p = 0.008), and PTSD symptoms among participants with likely PTSD, were significantly lower following treatment (M = 29.4, SE = 4.19, p = 0.002).

Conclusions

A short sleep skills intervention based on CBT-I was effective at reducing self-report insomnia symptoms and severity of psychological symptomology but failed to improve actigraphy sleep metrics. These findings highlight a differing contribution of night-time sleep and current insomnia symptoms to the severity of self-reported psychological symptomology.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

TraumaPTSDsleepactigraphy
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S809 - S810
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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