Work

Moderating effects of sleep difficulties on relations between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and positive memory count

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity relates to positive memory retrieval difficulties. One variable potentially influencing this relation is sleep difficulties. We examined moderating effects of sleep difficulties (duration and quality) on relations between PTSD severity and count of specific positive memories covarying for age, gender, and depression. METHODS: = 35.44; 61.40% women). RESULTS: Moderated regression analyses indicated significant interaction effects between sleep quality (b = 0.03; p = 0.036) and PTSD severity on specific positive memory count. Among individuals reporting better sleep quality, there were negative associations between PTSD severity and specific positive memory count (b = -0.04, SE = 0.02, p = 0.010). Similar results were obtained for PTSD's intrusion and arousal clusters. CONCLUSION: Results support targeting sleep quality and PTSD severity to improve positive memory retrieval in PTSD and memory interventions, and the importance of considering sleep when examining links between PTSD and positive memory retrieval.

Source: Journal of Clinical Psychology

DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23142

Authors: Ateka A. Contractor, Danica C. Slavish, Nicole H. Weiss, Ahmad M. Alghraibeh, Ali A. Alafnan, Daniel J. Taylor

Institutions: University of North Texas, University of Rhode Island, King Saud University, University of Arizona

Language: English

Topic: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green