Women with abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder sleep more fitfully but just as long as healthy controls: an actigraphic study.

Study Objectives: Subjective reports of sleep impairments are common in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but objective assessments of sleep have yielded mixed results.

Methods: We investigated sleep via actigraphy and e-diary on 6 consecutive nights in a group of 117 women with PTSD after childhood abuse (CA; PTSD group), a group of 31 mentally healthy women with a history of CA (healthy trauma controls, HTC group) and a group of 36 nontraumatized mentally healthy women (healthy controls, HC group).

Results: The PTSD group reported lower sleep quality, more nights with nightmares, and shorter sleep duration than both HTC and HC.

Life within a limited radius: Investigating activity space in women with a history of child abuse using global positioning system tracking.

Early experiences of childhood sexual or physical abuse are often associated with functional impairments, reduced well-being and interpersonal problems in adulthood. Prior studies have addressed whether the traumatic experience itself or adult psychopathology is linked to these limitations. To approach this question, individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and healthy individuals with and without a history of child abuse were investigated.

Preferences and Ratings of Partner Traits in Female Survivors of Childhood Abuse With PTSD and Healthy Controls.

There is growing empirical evidence for an association between childhood abuse (CA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood. We tested whether revictimized survivors of severe to extreme severities of child sexual abuse (CSA) and severe severities of child physical abuse (CPA) differed from nonvictimized healthy controls in their trait preferences in intimate partners and their current mate choice. In a sample of 52 revictimized female patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after CSA/CPA and 52 female healthy controls, the validated Intimate Partner Preferences Questionnaire (IPPQ) was used to assess (a) the desirability of tenderness, dominance, and aggression traits in potential partners, and (b) the presence of these traits in their current intimate partners.