The Mediating Role of Sleep Quality, Regularity, and Insomnia on the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to many negative outcomes in prior psychological literature. Previous studies have shown that ACEs are related to sleep problems (e.g., trouble falling and staying asleep) and sleep problems are related to resilience outcomes. However, there are far fewer studies that examine whether sleep quality, regularity, and insomnia symptoms mediate the relationship between ACEs and resilience. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to analyze the mediating role of sleep problems on the relationship between ACEs and resilience. Emerging adult participants between the ages of 18-25 (N = 501) were recruited online via Mechanical Turk (n = 243) and from a mid-size university research participant pool in the Northwestern United States (n = 258). Participants completed questionnaires online concerning ACEs, sleep problems (i.e., quality, regularity, and insomnia symptoms), and resilience (i.e., psychological well-being, social well-being, life satisfaction, and effortful control). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data cross-sectionally. The latent construct of sleep problems was found to mediate the relationship between ACEs and the latent construct of resilience. These results suggest that sleep quality, regularity, and insomnia symptoms may be important targets for intervention when treating individuals with ACEs to increase their resilience.