The odds of developing insomnia increase twofold to threefold with exposure to specific types of trauma, according to a study of 554 nonclinical, urban, young adult African Americans who were recruited from a larger study and whom completed a battery of self-report measures that included the Life Events Checklist, the PTSD Checklist, and Insomnia Severity Index, and the Fear of Sleep Index. The study also suggests:

• PTSD symptom severity and nocturnal fears contribute differentially to the relationship between trauma exposure and insomnia.

• The possibility of multiple underlying pathways.

• Sexual trauma, physical assault, accidents, natural disaster, and sudden violent death predicted insomnia independent of sex.

Citation: Hall Brown TS, Akeeb A, Mellman TA. The role of trauma type in the risk for insomnia. J Clin Sleep Med. 2015;11:735-739.