Daily associations of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and sleep health on family functioning among US Asian Indians with intimate partner violence experiences.

Abstract

Asian Indians in the United States (US) experience a substantial number of traumas, especially intimate partner violence (IPV), which can contribute to PTSD symptoms and sleep disturbances. PTSD and sleep disturbances following IPV may influence family functioning and relationships over time due to mistrust of others, perceptions of limited social support, additional health consequences, communication problems, detrimental impacts on children and parenting, and isolation. To advance this line of research, the current study examined how daily PTSD symptoms and sleep disturbances following IPV are associated with daily family functioning among US Asian Indians. A convenience sample of 90 US Asian Indians who had experienced IPV in their lifetime (Mage = 31.03 years, 67.78% female; 73.33% with probable PTSD; 55.56% with moderate to severe insomnia symptoms) were recruited via online methods and in-person events. Participants were asked to complete 7 consecutive daily surveys on PTSD, sleep health (i.e., efficiency, duration, quality, nightmare occurrence), and family functioning (daily survey compliance rate = 84.0%). Multilevel models indicated that nights with better sleep quality than average (β = 0.05, p = .043) and days with lower PTSD symptom severity than average (β's = -0.05 to -0.07, ps <.05 across models) were associated with better daily family functioning. After covarying for previous-day family functioning, most effects became non-significant. Findings suggest that targeting PTSD and sleep health may relate to improved family functioning, which can be important components of culturally informed IPV interventions for Asian Indians.