The role of perceived social support from family, friends and significant others in the association between childhood maltreatment on sleep quality in adolescents: Evidence from a weekly diary study

Abstract

Background

Childhood maltreatment is a common problem that can have lasting effects on the physical and mental health of adolescents who have experienced it, including sleep quality.

Objective

This study will investigate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and sleep quality in adolescents using a weekly diary method.

Participants and setting

In this study, students from a middle school in central China were recruited as research subjects, and a total of 11 classes with 470 students were investigated.

Methods

In order to fill in the gaps of previous studies, a weekly diary method was used to collect data. Subjects were required to complete three scales once a week for seven consecutive weeks, including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scale (PSQI).

Results

Findings suggest that childhood maltreatment has a negative impact on adolescent's sleep quality at the weekly level (γ₀₁^c = −0.07, t = −5.71, p < .001) . The negative effect of childhood maltreatment on sleep quality was significantly reduced with the addition of perceived social support (γ₀₁^c′ = −0.03, t = −2.83, p < .01). Notably, support from friends (γ₀₁^a*γ₀₂^b = −0.01) and significant others (γ₀₁^a*γ₀₂^b = −0.02) also played an important mediating role in child maltreatment and adolescent sleep quality, but family support remained the most important support in adolescents (γ₀₁^a*γ₀₂^b = −0.04).

Conclusions

The present study has confirmed the negative correlation between childhood maltreatment and sleep quality in adolescents. Furthermore, it has clarified the mechanism of perceived social support and the separate mediating roles of perceived family support, perceived friend support, and perceived significant other support.