Examining mediators of the association between child maltreatment and sleep disturbance in college students

Background: Childhood maltreatment has been associated with poorer mental and physical health across the lifespan, including disrupted sleep. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess four potential mediators of the association between child maltreatment and sleep in a sample of college students: daily rumination, perceptions of control over stressors, sleep hygiene, and distress. Participants and setting: University students (N = 234) completed self-report measures online. Methods: Childhood maltreatment was assessed at baseline and rumination, perceived control, sleep hygiene, and distress were assessed daily for 14 days and aggregated across days. Structural equation models were used to test hypotheses. The hypothesized model was compared to an alternate path reversal model. Results: Maltreatment was significantly associated with greater sleep disturbance (β = 0.17, p <.05). Of the mediators, only sleep hygiene partially mediated the association between maltreatment and sleep (β = 0.07, p <.01). The alternate path reversal model demonstrated that sleep disturbances mediated the relation between child maltreatment and sleep hygiene (β = 0.11, p <.001) and perceived control (β = 0.07, p <.05), and sleep disturbances partially mediated the relation between maltreatment and distress (β = 0.10, p <.01) and rumination (β = 0.09, p <.01). Conclusions: Sleep hygiene may be implicated in the long-term health effects of child maltreatment. Further, sleep hygiene interventions may be useful for improving sleep among college students who have experienced maltreatment, and targeting students' sleep may have benefits for students' cognition and mood.