Study: Childhood Emotional Abuse Tied to Sleep Problems in Seniors

Researchers have found that individuals who endured emotional abuse from their parents as children are more likely to have sleep problems in old age.

The researchers theorize that emotional abuse as children can keep people from developing supportive social relationships later on in life and limit their ability to fend for themselves emotionally. This can lead to additional emotional distress and negatively impact the quality of sleep that a person experiences later on in life. Reported sleep problems included difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, waking up too early or not feeling refreshed after sleep.

The researchers said that examples of emotional abuse could include a parent swearing at a child, ignoring the child, stomping out of a room, sulking or knocking over or smashing objects.

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