2026-05-21T04:13:41Zhttps://keep.lib.asu.edu/oai/request

oai:keep.lib.asu.edu:node-2006552025-05-02T23:25:31Zoai_pmh:alloai_pmh:repo_items

200655 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.200655 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2025-05 24 pages Fowler, Shannon Jimenez Arista, Laura Sanchez, Francisco Barrett, The Honors College School of Social and Behavioral Sciences School of Social Transformation Sexsomnia, commonly known as “sleep sex”, is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal behavioral, experimental, or physiological events occurring in association with sleep, specific stages, or sleep-wake transitions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 399). Within parasomnias, sexsomnia falls under “non-rapid eye movement [NREM] sleep arousal disorders” and is further classified as a “Sleep-related sexual behavior” under the umbrella of sleepwalking (APA, 2013, p. 400). Many individuals with sexsomnia have a history of sleepwalking in childhood. Researchers have found that childhood sexual trauma is a factor of sleepwalking in children. Sexsomnia also has many implications on the mental, physical, and social health of the people who experience the disorder, including guilt, shame, depression, suicidal thoughts, fear, and anxiety (Toscanini et al., 2021, pp. 177-178 and Toscanini et al., 2021, p. 180). It also places housemates at risk of victimization and leaves the sexsomniac without memories of the nocturnal events, which perpetuates a late diagnosis of the disorder and a forensic focus. This review aims to explore whether current literature and research justify further investigation into the relationship between sexual trauma and sexsomnia in women, including whether there is a higher prevalence of this behavior due to childhood/adolescent sexual trauma. Method: Fourteen literary articles and studies were collected from the Arizona State University library database. The literary articles and case studies were reviewed separately using qualitative and quantitative methods, including an Excel spreadsheet. Results: The study finds that current literature and research evidence justify further investigation into the relationship between childhood/adolescent sexual abuse and sexsomnia in women. Sexsomnia Parasomnias Sleep-Sex Sleep Disorders Women Childhood Sexual Abuse Adolescence Forensic Psychology Clinical Psychology Sexsomnia in Women: An Exploratory Review of Literature and Case Studies Supporting the Need for Further Research