Understanding the Relationship Between Tobacco Use, Sleep Quality and Self-Efficacy in Adults with PTSD

Abstract

Adults with PTSD are nearly twice as likely to use tobacco as compared to the general population in the United States. Measures to be administered to 11 participants are the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, General Self-Efficacy Scale, a daily sleep diary, and a substance use log. There were no significant differences between adult tobacco users and non-tobacco users, as it relates to sleep quality and generalized self-efficacy. The small sample size and low number of tobacco users (n = 4) seriously limit the power to detect differences, as well as the stability of results. Our analyses show there are significant relationships between GSE and nightmare frequency, PCL and nightmare frequency, and PCL and sleep quality regardless of tobacco use. These findings suggest that traumatized people with PTSD exhibit a lower level of perceived self-efficacy than do traumatized people without PTSD. As nightmares are one of several accompanying symptoms of PTSD, this could account for participants with higher GSE scores experiencing lower nightmare frequency. As expected, participants with higher PCL scores experienced more nightmares and worse sleep quality.