Complexities of intimate partner violence and insomnia: why some midlife women cannot sleep

Abstract

Using validated measures to study women veterans (45-64 years old) enrolled in the Department of Veterans' Affairs health care in Northern California, in this issue, Goldstein and colleagues 1 report on an investigation linking lifetime history of intimate partner violence (IPV) to current clinical insomnia (C-CI). Participants completed the Extended-Hurt, Insult, Threaten, Scream inventory to estimate over a lifetime how many times a partner physically hurt, threatened, insulted/talked down, screamed at, or forced sexual activities. The Insomnia Severity Index was used to assess C-CI. Results showed that lifetime IPV scores were associated significantly with 3 times the likelihood of C-CI. Each type of violence (physical [2Â], psychological [4Â], and sexual [2Â] IPV) was significantly associated with increased odds of reporting C-CI. This work provides more evidence of deteriorated sleep quality in the context of exposure to interpersonal trauma. The insights contribute to the sparse literature on midlife to older women rather than younger ones and especially women veterans. Strengths include the use of validated measures for both lifetime IPV and C-CI and relevant data analysis. Results prompt consideration of what we know and need to know about IPV for women, particularly related to sleep, contextual complexities, and how to incorporate into effective health care for midlife women.