Sexual assault predicts gender-specific sleep problems in varsity student athletes

Abstract

Objective: To determine the direct and indirect effects of sexual assault on sleep health in varsity athletes. Participants: Varsity athletes (n = 2,910) who completed the Fall 2019 or 2020 administrations of the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment III. Methods: We combined exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to evaluate relationships between four predictor variables: sexual assault, psychological distress, alcohol use and cannabis use and two response variables: sleep duration and insomnia symptoms. Results: Overall, 9.6% of women, 5.0% of men, and 34.9% of non-binary student athletes reported experiencing sexual violence in the last 12 months. Across genders, sexual assault was positively associated with insomnia symptoms and negatively associated with sleep duration both directly and indirectly as mediated by mental distress and alcohol use. Conclusions: When screening for sleep disturbances, as recommended by NCAA, athletic staff should recognize the impact of sexual violence and provide trauma-informed victim support.