The Relationship and Predicting Role of Sleep Quality and Sexual Self-esteem in Secondary Post-traumatic Stress Disorder among Wives of Veterans

Introduction: Wives of veterans, due to close relationship and taking care of them, are identified as secondary or hidden victims of trauma. This indirect exposure to a stressful event brings psychological consequences for them. Objective: The current study aimed at determining the relationship and predicting role of sleep quality and sexual self-esteem in secondary post-traumatic stress disorder among wives of veterans. Material and Methods: The present descriptive-analytical study was performed on 152 wives of veterans with secondary post-traumatic stress disorder in Kermanshah Province, Iran in 2019. The subjects were selected by purposive sampling method. To collect data, the Pittsburgh sleep inventory, sexual self-esteem index for woman-short form (validation by Farokhi & Shareh), and secondary trauma questionnaire (STQ) were used. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 25 using Pearson correlation coefficient and simple linear regression. Results: According to the findings, the mean ± standard deviation scores of sleep quality, sexual self-esteem, and secondary traumatic stress disorder were 13.00±3.88, 59.11±11.88, and 63.43±10.53, respectively. The results indicated a positive and significant relationship between low sleep quality and secondary traumatic stress (r= 0.345, P<0.01). In addition, there was a significant and negative correlation between sexual self-esteem and secondary traumatic stress (r = -0.298, P<0.01). The results of regression analysis showed that 32% of changes in secondary traumatic disorder can be explained by sleep quality and sexual self-esteem. Discussion and Conclusion: Given the important role of sleep quality and sexual self-esteem in the predicting secondary traumatic stress disorder, it is suggested to consider the role of these factors in intervention programs for secondary traumatic stress disorder.