Abstract

Abstract Objective Reviewed literature suggests that individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) demonstrate cognitive deficits in attention, learning/memory, and executive functions. Less is known regarding the relationship between sleep disturbance and language abilities among individuals with PTSD. We hypothesized that subjective perceptions of PTSD-related sleep disturbance would impact language generativity in Veterans with PTSD. Methods 38 individuals (mean age = 46.58, SD = 13.55; 10% female) were administered a brief neurocognitive battery including measures of verbal generativity [i.e., Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System: Verbal fluency subtest], PTSD symptoms (i.e., clinically significant PTSD = > 35 on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-IV), self-report measures of sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory; PSQI), and PTSD-related sleep disturbances (PSQI – Addendum for PTSD). All participants had a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). An analysis of covariance was used to assess the contribution of PTSD-related sleep disturbance on verbal fluency in Veterans with PTSD. Post-hoc analyses were conducted. Results Those without PTSD performed better on letter fluency than those with PTSD (p=.019). There was no significant effect of PTSD (presence or absence) on letter fluency performance after controlling for subjective sleep quality, F(1, 35) = 1.43, p = .239. Follow up analyses failed to show any associations between PTSD and other cognitive measures. Conclusions PTSD related sleep disturbance accounts for a significant portion of the variance in the relationship between PTSD and verbal generativity. Individuals with a history of mTBI and current PTSD symptoms, may have worse verbal generativity but is partially accounted for by PTSD related sleep disturbance.

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