781 Insomnia is Associated with Anger Expression in an Army Population
Abstract Introduction Emotion-regulation and sleep-related difficulties are intertwined. Most research has focused on the impact of poor sleep on internalizing symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety) but a few studies have found a that increased insomnia is associated with more externalizing symptoms (e.g. anger). This relationship may be particularly salient for military personnel, for whom poor sleep is endemic. It is important that this relationship be further investigated in order to understand the issues that Army servicemembers face. Methods Data were acquired from the All Army Study of the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (STARRS; N=21,449; 18–61 years old; 86.5% male). Participants completed the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire, an 11-item irritability and anger-related questionnaire and a 10-item questionnaire on anger attacks. Pearson correlations were used to examine the relationship between insomnia symptoms and emotional and behavioral components of anger, while controlling for depressive symptom severity. Results Insomnia severity in the past 30 days was significantly correlated with both emotional and behavioral expressions of anger (all p<0.001, r = .2 to .4). Overall insomnia severity and early morning awakenings (EMA) had the strongest relationships. These relationships were still significant after controlling for depression severity. Conclusion In a nationally-representative sample of Army servicemembers, insomnia severity, particularly EMA, was associated with higher levels of irritability and anger (outbursts and anger attacks) over and above the effects of depression. These findings highlight the importance of treating insomnia in order to regulate anger expression within a military population. Support (if any) This publication is based on public use data from Army STARRS (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan-http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35197-v1), funded by U.S. NIMH-U01MH087981.