LAUSR

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are highly stressful events during the first 18 years of life that have been linked with adverse adult health outcomes. Sleep is an important behavioral risk factor for a myriad of health outcomes that have been linked to ACE exposure. A growing body of evidence indicates that ACEs are associated with low self-reported sleep durations, but these findings should be verified using objectively measured sleep characteristics. The purpose of this study was to examine associations of ACE exposure with actigraphy-measured sleep duration, timing, and variability. Methods: In twenty-four young adults (20F/4M; mean±SD, age=24±5 y), we assessed ACE exposure using the 10-item ACE scale and measured sleep characteristics over a ≥6 day period using a wrist-worn actigraphy device. Participants with 0–1 ACEs were characterized as low-ACE (ACE-low, n=10) and participants with 2+ ACEs were characterized as moderate-high-ACE exposure (ACE-mh, n=14). Independent samples t-tests and Hedges’ g effect sizes were used to compare total sleep duration, bed-time, get-up time, time-in-bed, sleep onset latency and the standard deviation of bed time and total sleep duration between groups. Time-in-bed was greater in ACE-mh than in ACE-low (mean±SE difference=-60±25 min; p=0.027; g=-0.95), yet there was no difference in total sleep duration (-9±10 min; p=0.46; g=-0.37). This discrepancy was accompanied by a non-significant, but large-effect size difference between ACE-mh and ACE-low (-15±7 min; p=0.051; g=-0.83) in sleep onset latency. There were no differences between groups in either bed-time (p=0.34; g=0.39) or get-up time (p=0.35; g=-1.2), nor in either bed-time (p=0.84; g=-0.08) or total sleep duration (p=0.36; g=-0.37) variability. In contrast to prior evidence based on self-report, our initial evidence indicates that ACE exposure is not linked with shorter sleep durations or higher sleep variability when measured using actigraphy. Instead, ACE exposure is linked to greater time in bed and greater sleep onset latencies, suggesting that individuals exposed to ACEs may have less efficient sleep. Support: Research reported in this publication was supported in part by the NCATS of the NIH (UL1TR002537) and by the Injury Prevention Research Center through the CDC (R49 CE003095).