Using sleep dysfunction to explore the nature of resilience in adult survivors of childhood abuse or trauma.

OBJECTIVE

In early studies, resilience to trauma was equated with psychological well-being. This study explores the possibility that such resilience is better described as social-behavioral competency and that, in turn, such competency can conceal emotional pain.

METHOD: A university sample of 97 participants, 79 women and 18 men, completed measures of childhood abuse and trauma, resilient characteristics, and sleep dysfunction. The measures of sleep problems could be divided into those tapping psychological well-being (e.g., nightmare frequency) and those reflecting social-behavioral functioning (e.g., measures of the impact of nightmares on waking functioning).

RESULTS

Fifty-three participants reported experiencing one or more types of trauma or abuse in childhood. As a group they scored more negatively than those reporting no abuse on measures of sleep dysfunction. Resilient characteristics were only related to measures of social-behavioral functioning, not well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings are consistent with current conceptualizations of trauma/abuse recovery as involving multiple dimensions of functioning, some of which are more publicly observable than others. Therefore, some apparently resilient individuals may have good social-behavioral competency while still experiencing psychological pain.