Examining sleep and post traumatic stress disorder in military veterans

Results indicate that sleep-focused CBT-based interventions appear to be a potentially efficacious approach to treating depressive and PTSD symptoms in military veterans. Clinical implications and areas for future research are discussed. <br><br>Empirical Paper<br>Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and disturbances in sleep are highly prevalent in military veteran populations. Research has highlighted the complex relationship between these two constructs.

The current study investigates the relationship between sleep dysfunction and PTSD, using network analysis to look at these on a symptom level. Data was collected from 601 veterans living in Northern Ireland, and a network comprised of PTSD symptoms from the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and items from the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was constructed. The PSQI symptoms “sleep disturbances” and “sleep latency” demonstrated the highest bridge centrality values and thus the strongest connections to the PTSD items.

For the PTSD items “concentration difficulties” and “flashbacks” were the strongest bridge connections to sleep items. These findings suggest that specific symptoms may play a role in the interactive relationship between sleep and PTSD symptoms. Identifying these symptoms can aid in the development of effective interventions for individuals who present with PTSD symptoms and sleep dysfunction.<br>