Screening for Trauma-Related Sleep Disturbance in Women Admitted for Specialized Inpatient Treatment

Abstract

The authors designed a Sleep Disturbance Screening questionnaire to assist clinicians in disentangling trauma-related factors that contribute to sleep disturbance from other common factors, such as depression. They administered the questionnaire to 129 female psychiatric inpatients, most of whom were treated in a specialty program for trauma-related disorders. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses distinguished four sleep disturbance scales, two pertaining to sleep disturbance generally (Insomnia, Hypersomnia) and two pertaining to sleep-related fear (Intrusive, Phobic). Correlations of the sleep disturbance scales with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 1994), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (Weiss & Marmar, 1997), Dissociative Experiences Scale (Bernstein & Putnam, 1986), Beck Depression Inventory (Beck & Steer, 1993), and selected scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III; Millon, 1994) show evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the Sleep Disturbance Screening. The findings point to the potential diagnostic value of screening for trauma-related sleep disturbance, with the Sleep Disturbance Screening providing a small set of key questions that may be used in psychometric form or incorporated into routine diagnostic clinical interviews.

Key Words:

• Sleep disturbance
• childhood trauma
• dissociation
• depression
• post traumatic stress disorder