Melanie A. Hom|Ian H. Stanley|Megan L. Rogers|Mirela Tzoneva|Rebecca A. Bernert|Thomas E. Joiner
The Association between Sleep Disturbances and Depression among Firefighters: Emotion Dysregulation as an Explanatory Factor
Florida State University|Florida State University|Florida State University|Florida State University|Stanford University|Florida State University
investigate emotion regulation difficulties association selfreported insomnia symptoms nightmares depression symptoms sample current retired firefightersa total 880 current retired united states firefighters completed webbased survey firefighter behavioral health selfreport measures included center epidemiologic studies depression scale insomnia severity index ptsd checklist difficulties emotion regulation scalea notable portion participants reported clinically significant depression symptoms 396 insomnia symptoms 527 well nightmare problems 192 demonstrated strong association emotion regulation difficulties rs 056080 bootstrapped mediation analyses revealed indirect effects overall emotion regulation difficulties significant relationship insomnia depression 95 ci 03850566 nightmares depression 95 ci 14452365 limited access emotion regulation strategies emerged strongest significant indirect effect relationships insomnia 95 ci 01360335 nightmares 95 ci 08871931findings extend previous affective neuroscience research providing evidence insomnia nightmares may influence depression symptoms specifically pathway explicit emotion regulation difficulties sleep disturbances may impair ability access leverage emotion regulation strategies effectively thus conferring risk negative affect depression