Reported history of childhood trauma, mentalizing deficits, and hypersomnia in adulthood: A mediational analysis in a nonclinical sample

Abstract

Abstract Background and objective Existing research has confirmed the link between childhood trauma and poor sleep quality in adulthood. This study focused on the relationship between childhood trauma and hypersomnia specifically, which is understudied. Additionally, childhood maltreatment has been related to mentalizing deficits. The current study examined the role of mentalizing deficits as mediators between childhood trauma and hypersomnia. Method The study sample of this cross‐sectional study consisted of 496 individuals, who participated in the online survey, which contained the following measures: Persian version of the Mini Sleep Questionnaire, Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ‐8), and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Results The results from structural equation modeling indicated that emotional abuse positively predicts hypersomnia. Mediation analysis confirmed that hypo‐mentalizing partially mediates the association between emotional abuse and hypersomnia. Conclusion The present study provides primary evidence that experiencing emotional abuse during childhood is associated with hypersomnia in adulthood. This association underlines the importance of prevention. The result from mediation analysis suggests addressing mentalizing impairments in patients with hypersomnia and a history of emotional abuse may be helpful.

Keywords

• childhood trauma
• emotional abuse
• hypersomnia
• mentalizing
• sleep
• structural equation modeling