Intimate Partner Violence and Its Association with Self-Reported and Observed Sleep Quality: The Potential Mediating Role of Mental Health Symptoms

Despite sizable literature demonstrating the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and various health outcomes, few studies have examined the intersection between mental health and sleep among pregnant, IPV-exposed women. Thus, the current study sought to (1) evaluate the association and agreement between measures of self-reported and observed sleep, using actigraphy and a sleep questionnaire; (2) examine the effects of physical, psychological, and sexual IPV on sleep; and (3) assess mental health as a mediator of the link between IPV and sleep. Results suggest a considerable degree of disparity between most self-reported (measured via PSQI) and observed (captured via actigraphy) sleep parameters in the context of pregnancy. In particular, the results highlighted poor agreement between self-reported and observed time in bed and sleep onset latency. Further, results show that while IPV is directly associated with mental health symptoms, we did not detect any mediating effects of mental health symptoms in the relation between IPV and sleep.