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 Adverse childhood experiences, commonly called ACEs, can include
witnessing parents fight or go through a divorce, having a parent
with a mental illness or substance abuse problem, or suffering from
sexual, physical or emotional abuse. ACEs have been linked to what's
known as toxic stress, or wear and tear on the body that leads to
physical and mental health problems that often continue from one
generation to the next.
For the current study, published in the journal Sleep, researchers
surveyed 22,403 adults who were 47 years old on average about any
adversity they experienced during childhood. Overall, 42% of the
participants didn't report any ACEs, while another 23% experienced
one type of ACE and the rest were exposed to at least two ACEs.
About 61% of the adults got an optimal amount of sleep - 7 to 9
hours a night - and roughly one-third of them got too little sleep -
less than 6 hours nightly.
Each ACE people experienced was associated with 22% higher odds of
getting too little sleep. People with three ACEs were more than
twice as likely to get too little sleep, and the risk was more than
tripled for adults with five or more ACEs.
"Previous studies have shown that adults who experienced adverse
childhood experiences have an increased likelihood of sleep
disturbance, and poor sleep quality," said lead study author Kelly
Sullivan of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.
What makes the current study unique is that it shows the that
adverse childhood experiences can also impact sleep duration,
Sullivan said by email. This is likely due to the lasting effects of
toxic stress.
"Excessive or prolonged stress has been shown to biologically alter
the brain and affect health, learning and behavior," Sullivan said.
"These effects can last throughout the lifespan."
People in the study were typically overweight, which can impact the
risk of sleep problems. Almost half of them were former smokers, and
about 21% were current smokers, which can also negatively impact
sleep quality and quantity.
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Only 10% of the adults reported experiencing frequent mental
distress.
Mental health challenges or poor physical health didn't appear to
influence the association between ACEs and insufficient sleep in
adulthood, however.
Out of all the different types of ACEs, domestic abuse, child abuse
and rape had the biggest impact on sleep duration in adulthood.
When people did experience ACEs, they most often reported emotional
abuse, living with an alcoholic, or parental divorce.
The study wasn't a controlled experiment designed to prove whether
or how ACEs might directly cause sleep deficiencies.
One limitation of the study is that researchers lacked data on the
duration of the ACE or age at exposure, which could impact how these
exposures contribute to sleep issues down the line.
Even so, the results offer fresh evidence of the long-term impact of
childhood exposure to toxic stress, said Dr. Nicole Racine of the
University of Calgary and Alberta Children's Hospital Research
Institute in Canada, who wasn't involved in the study.
Children who are exposed to abuse and adversity experience
heightened levels of toxic stress, Racine said by email. She added,
"Toxic stress has a wear and tear on the body and also impacts a
child's developing brain, including areas of the brain that regulate
sleep."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2ENJlea Sleep, online May 21, 2019.
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