The aim of this study was to test the validity of the “sleep-dissociation” perspective. In addition, and to gain a more comprehensive overview of the trauma–sleep–dissociation complex, we aimed to test in which manner and to what degree trauma sleep disorders and nightmares are related to dissociation. A total of 100 male and 100 female university students with mean age of 24 completed and returned a 160-item questionnaire designed to detect the extent of dissociation, childhood and recent trauma history, sleep disorders, and nightmares. Correlation analyses showed that sleep disorders and nightmares correlated significantly with history of childhood and recent trauma and dissociation. Findings from bootstrapping procedures showed that nightmares and sleep disorders, separately from each other, mediated the relationship between trauma and dissociation. However, when nightmares and sleep disorders were analyzed together in one data set, the only significant mediator was nightmares, which explained a substantial proportion of the total effect of childhood trauma on dissociation. These observations support the “sleep-dissociation” perspective on the relationship between trauma and dissociation, meaning that traumatic events might engender both sleep disturbances and nightmares, which in turn might play a pivotal role in the genesis of dissociative symptoms. The results of this study imply that trauma survivors, routinely, should be assessed and monitored with regard to sleep disorders and nightmares. Treating nightmares and, consequently, securing trauma survivors a consistent sleeping pattern and quality may play an important role in preventing the potential occurrence of dissociative symptoms.

中文翻译：

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睡眠障碍和噩梦在创伤和分离之间的关系中的中介作用。

本研究的目的是检验“睡眠-分离”观点的有效性。此外，为了更全面地了解创伤-睡眠-分离复合体，我们旨在测试创伤睡眠障碍和噩梦与分离相关的方式和程度。共有 100 名男性和 100 名平均年龄为 24 岁的女性大学生完成并返回了一份 160 项问卷，旨在检测分离程度、童年和近期创伤史、睡眠障碍和噩梦。相关性分析表明，睡眠障碍和噩梦与童年史和最近的创伤和分离有显着相关性。引导程序的结果表明，噩梦和睡眠障碍，彼此分开，介导了创伤和分离之间的关系。然而，当在一个数据集中一起分析噩梦和睡眠障碍时，唯一重要的中介是噩梦，这解释了童年创伤对分离的总影响的很大一部分。这些观察结果支持关于创伤和分离之间关系的“睡眠分离”观点，这意味着创伤事件可能会导致睡眠障碍和噩梦，这反过来可能在分离症状的发生中发挥关键作用。这项研究的结果意味着，应定期评估和监测创伤幸存者的睡眠障碍和噩梦。治疗噩梦，因此，