SLEEP DISTURBANCE IN BATTERED WOMEN LIVING IN TRANSITIONAL HOUSING

Abstract

This study describes objective and subjective sleep in a convenience sample of 29 battered women living in specialized transitional housing programs compared to 30 women living in their own stable home environment. Compared to healthy controls, battered women living in transitional housing experienced longer sleep onset latencies by both subjective and objective measures and higher percentage of time awake during the night by objective measure. Poor sleep quality may reflect the relative contributions of less total sleep time, difficulty falling asleep, and more awakenings during the night rather than just one aspect of disturbed sleep. Findings suggest that battered women in transitional housing programs may improve daytime alertness and benefit from interventions directed toward reducing sleep onset latency as well as increasing total sleep time.