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Georgia Southern researchers find adverse childhood experiences associated with short sleep duration

May 22, 2019

2 min

Kelly Sullivan



Georgia Southern University professors from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCOPH) recently completed a study that shows adverse childhood experiences are associated with short sleep duration in adults.


Recently, the study was published in SLEEP, the benchmark international journal for sleep and circadian science.


The JPHCOPH team looked at nationally representative data from 22,403 adults.


Participants in the study who had adverse childhood experiences were more likely to have short sleep duration (less than 6 hours per night) than those without such experiences. Each adverse experience increased the likelihood of insufficient sleep by over 20%, and the association remained throughout adulthood.


The study participants were part of the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, in which they completed questionnaires detailing childhood experiences of abuse, neglect and household challenges as well as how many hours they sleep nightly as adults. Short sleep duration was not accounted for by mental health challenges or poor physical health, which suggests there are different underlying causes.


Over 60% of adults in the U.S. report having experienced at least one adverse childhood experience. The results emphasize the importance of childhood neurodevelopment on long-term health outcomes. Also, the data provides new information on how long adverse childhood experiences may affect sleep and calls for further investigation of the role of childhood experiences in people with sleep challenges.


Do you need to know more? Are you looking at stories or to cover how adverse childhood experiences impact sleep and how the long-term effects can follow that individual into adulthood? Let our experts help.


Kelly Sullivan, Ph.D., is an expert in epidemiology and neurological diseases and Haresh Rochani, DrPh, is the director of the Karl Peace Center for Biostatistics in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. Both experts are available to speak to this topic – simply click on either icon to arrange an interview.



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Kelly Sullivan

Kelly Sullivan

Assistant Professor, Epidemiology

Kelly Sullivan is an expert in epidemiology and neurological diseases

Movement DisordersNew Drug ApplicationsNeurological DisordersEnvironmental Health SciencesBiostatistics
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