Predeployment Sleep Duration and Insomnia Symptoms as Risk Factors for New-Onset Mental Health Disorders Following Military Deployment
Abstract
Research suggests that disturbed sleep is not only highly comorbid with several prominent mental health conditions, but may also increase the risk for the development of these conditions. Given that the stress of military deployment is a risk factor for both mental health symptoms and disturbed sleep, it is important to identify and understand any modifiable factors, such as predeployment sleep patterns, that may place personnel at increased risk. Data were from Millennium Cohort Study participants who completed their first deployment between the submissions of two consecutive surveys (2001 2008). After removing those reporting baseline or prior mental illness and those missing covariate data, our study population included 15 204 Cohort members. We identified 522 people with new-onset posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 151 with anxiety, and 303 with depression following deployment. In multivariable adjusted models, combat experience and predeployment insomnia symptoms were significantly associated with higher odds of developing PTSD, depression, and anxiety postdeployment, independent of other relevant covariates. Short sleep duration was only consistently associated with significantly higher odds of new-onset PTSD. Combat experience modified the association between insomnia symptoms and new-onset depression, but not the other mental disorders.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA620296
Entities
People
- Amber D. Seelig
- Christi S. Ulmer
- Edward J. Boyko
- Gary Dean Gackstetter
- Isabel Gomez Jacobson
- Philip Gehrman
- Tomoko I. Hooper
- Tyler Clain Smith
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center