Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters
Disasters’ Impact on Youth: Sleep as a transdiagnostic factor related to mental health and somatic symptoms
Evan T. Burdette, M.S.
Graduate Student
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida
Annette M. La Greca, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Psychology
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida
Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, can have a negative impact on youths’ physical and mental health. In an era of climate change, identifying transdiagnostic risk factors associated with poor physical and psychological functioning following disasters is important for designing preventive interventions to reduce disasters’ negative impact. Following Hurricane Irma (2017), we examined youths’ sleep problems as a potential transdiagnostic risk factor associated with symptoms of distress (i.e., posttraumatic stress [PTS], anxiety, and depression) and poor health (i.e., somatic symptoms). Three months after Irma, mothers of 227 youth (aged 7-17; 48.5% female; 30.8% Hispanic) residing in Southern Florida completed an online survey assessing stressors occurring before, during, and after Irma; mothers also reported on their youth’s sleep problems; levels of PTS, anxiety, and depression; and somatic symptoms (e.g., headaches, stomachaches). We used structural equation modeling to estimate latent variables for youths’ psychological distress, as defined by PTS, anxiety, and depression, and somatic symptoms, indicated by four items assessing the frequency of youths’ aches and pains, headaches, nausea, and stomachaches. Next, using a dual-mediation model, we tested whether a) there were significant indirect effects of disaster-related stressors on youths’ psychological distress via sleep problems, and b) whether there were significant indirect effects on somatic symptoms via both sleep problems and psychological distress. The model fit the data well (χ2 = 76.09, p <span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">= .01, RMSEA = .05, CFI = .97, SRMR = .04). Evacuation-related stressors (β = .10, SE = 0.04, t = 2.59, p = .01), life-threatening events during the hurricane (β = .11, SE = 0.04, t = 2.59, p = .01), and loss or disruption after the storm (β = .20, SE = 0.04, t = 4.64, p < .001) were all significantly associated with youths’ psychological distress via sleep problems. Evacuation-related stressors (β = .08, SE = 0.03, t = 2.32, p = .02), life-threatening events during the hurricane (β = .08, SE = 0.04, t = 2.37, p = .02), and loss or disruption after the storm (β = .15, SE = 0.04, t = 3.59, p < .001) also were significantly associated with youths’ somatic symptoms via both sleep problems and psychological distress. Youths’ post-disaster sleep problems show promise as a modifiable transdiagnostic factor to reduce psychological distress following disasters, which may, in turn, reduce children and adolescents’ somatic complaints. Preventive cognitive-behavioral interventions in the aftermath of disasters might include a focus on improving youths’ sleep hygiene and reducing symptoms of insomnia (e.g., CBT-I), to mitigate the impact of disasters on youths’ physical and mental health.