Actigraphic Wake after Sleep Onset and Symptom Severity Correspond with Rumination in Trauma-Exposed Individuals

Abstract

Rumination and worry are forms of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) commonly associated with internalizing psychopathologies, although less is known about RNT in trauma-exposed individuals with internalizing psychopathologies. Separate lines of research show RNT also plays a role in problematic sleep, which is frequently experienced after trauma exposure. To address gaps in the literature, the current study examines the impact of sleep and symptoms on RNT in trauma-exposed participants. A transdiagnostic sample of 46 unmedicated treatment-seeking trauma-exposed participants completed standard measures of rumination and worry, as well as clinical measures that assessed posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety severity. Actigraphic sleep variables were sleep duration, wake after sleep onset (WASO), and sleep efficiency. Sleep and clinical measures were submitted to multiple regression analyses with rumination and worry as dependent variables. The regression results showed that rumination was significantly explained by WASO and posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) severity, and the omnibus test was significant. Depression, anxiety, and other estimates of sleep were not significant. No significant results emerged for worry. Preliminary findings suggest that PTSS and WASO, an index of fragmented sleep, may contribute to rumination, but not worry, in trauma-exposed individuals. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine potential causal relationships.

Keywords

• rumination
• worry
• trauma
• actigraphy
• sleep
• perseverative cognitions