Date of Award

Summer 8-24-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

First Advisor

Walter Buboltz

Abstract

About one-third of our lives is spent sleeping. While sleep can be delayed to accommodate one’s lifestyle, the effects of inadequate sleep can be significant. Insufficient sleep has been linked to chronic health conditions, such as heart attacks, coronary heart disease, strokes, asthma, COPD, cancer, arthritis, depression, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Sleep disturbances, such as insomnia and nightmares, are prevalent after a traumatic event (B. Caldwell & Redeker, 2005; Spoormaker & Montgomery, 2008) and are often seen as one of the defining characteristics of posttraumatic stress disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Maker et al., 2012). Well-being is another component that may be associated with sleep and trauma. When factors such as a healthy diet and exercise are explored, sleep quality has emerged as a significant predictor of overall well-being (Wickham et al., 2020). Trauma exposure can significantly hinder one’s well-being. However, aspects of well-being, such as social support and positive interpersonal relationships, can provide a protective factor (Kaniasty, 2012; Shakespeare-Finch et al., 2014; Weinberg, 2016). The present study examined the mediating role of posttraumatic symptoms on the relationship between sleep quality, well-being, and health. This study consisted of 276 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online crowdsourcing platform. The results of this study indicated that posttraumatic symptoms do not significantly mediate the relationship between sleep quality and well-being. However, concerning health, the results showed that posttraumatic symptoms fully mediate the relationship between sleep quality and health. Relevant implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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