Relationship between stress and insomnia in plateau soldiers: mediating role of parent-child alienation and moderating role of expressive suppression

To investigate the influence of stress on insomnia among plateau soldiers, and explore the mediating role of parent-child alienation and the moderating role of emotion regulation strategies in this relationship.

A cross-sectional study design was adopted in this study. Our Self-designed General Information Questionnaire, Plateau Soldiers Stressor Scale, Insomnia Severity Index, Inventory of Alienation towards Parents, and Emotion Regulation Scale were employed to survey 2 065 plateau soldiers at an average altitude of 4 200 m. With aid of SPSS 26.0 statistics, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis were applied to analyze stress status, parent-child alienation, insomnia and emotion regulation in the participants, and then a structural equation model was established.

① The scores of stress, parent-child alienation and insomnia were significantly higher in the participants who were older, well educated (P < 0.01) and were or had been in a marital relationship (married, divorced, or widowed)(P < 0.001) than those without above conditions.② Significant pairwise positive correlations were observed among stress, parent-child alienation, insomnia, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression (r=0.08~0.61, P < 0.001).③ Stress and expressive suppression could positively predict parent-child alienation (β=0.14~0.43, P < 0.001), and stress, parent-child alienation and expressive suppression could positively predict insomnia (β=0.04~0.25, P < 0.01). Cognitive reappraisal could not significantly predict parent-child alienation or insomnia.④Parent-child alienation towards parents partially mediated the relationship between stress and insomnia, with a mediation effect accounting for 7.29% of the total effect.⑤ Expressive suppression moderated the impact of stress on insomnia (β=-0.01, P < 0.001), and the higher expressive suppression level mitigated the adverse effect of stress on insomnia when compared with the lower expressive suppression level.

For plateau soldiers, stress significantly predicts insomnia, with parent-child alienation playing a mediating role. Furthermore, a higher level of expressive suppression can effectively buffer the influence of stress on insomnia.