TY - JOUR
T1 - Sleep Early after Trauma: A Target for Prevention and Early Intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?
AU - Azza, Yasmine
AU - Wilhelm, Ines
AU - Kleim, Birgit
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Clinical Research Priority Program of the University of Zurich “Sleep and Health”.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Hogrefe Publishing GmbH. All rights reserved.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by intrusive re-experiencing of emotional memories of a traumatic event. Such memories are formed after exposure to trauma in the context of a cascading stress response including high levels of emotional arousal and stress hormone release. Sleep could be a key modulator of early memory formation and re-consolidation processes. Initial studies have investigated this association in this early time period, that is, hours and days after trauma exposure, and its role in modulating trauma memories and PTSD. The time is thus ripe to integrate findings from these studies. The current review consolidated evidence from five experimental and seven naturalistic studies on the association between trauma, sleep, and the development of intrusive emotional memories and PTSD, respectively. Together, the studies point to a potential protective role of sleep after trauma for the development of intrusive memories and PTSD. Findings regarding key sleep architecture features are more mixed and require additional investigation. The findings are important for prevention and intervention science.
AB - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by intrusive re-experiencing of emotional memories of a traumatic event. Such memories are formed after exposure to trauma in the context of a cascading stress response including high levels of emotional arousal and stress hormone release. Sleep could be a key modulator of early memory formation and re-consolidation processes. Initial studies have investigated this association in this early time period, that is, hours and days after trauma exposure, and its role in modulating trauma memories and PTSD. The time is thus ripe to integrate findings from these studies. The current review consolidated evidence from five experimental and seven naturalistic studies on the association between trauma, sleep, and the development of intrusive emotional memories and PTSD, respectively. Together, the studies point to a potential protective role of sleep after trauma for the development of intrusive memories and PTSD. Findings regarding key sleep architecture features are more mixed and require additional investigation. The findings are important for prevention and intervention science.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094097012&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1027/1016-9040/a000401
DO - 10.1027/1016-9040/a000401
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85094097012
VL - 25
SP - 239
EP - 251
JO - European Psychologist
JF - European Psychologist
SN - 1016-9040
IS - 4
ER -