Anne D. Herlache

Sleep Disruption and Aggression: Implications for Violence and its Prevention

 

Although aggression and violence remain a perennial social problem, the role that sleep-wake regulation plays in social behavior like aggression has been severely neglected. In response, we integrate cross-disciplinary evidence to suggest that various forms of sleep disruption release aggressive impulses and fuel violence. Specifically, we outline three pathways of influence from sleep disturbance to aggression that involve compromised affective, cognitive, and response-control processes. Furthermore, we review three domains where sleep disturbance may have especially important effects on aggression and violence, as well as may provide opportunities for intervention. These domains involve (a) intimate partner violence, (b) school and online bullying, and (c) institutional aggression within psychiatric and correctional institutions. Taken together, this evidence has essential theoretical and applied importance for understanding and preventing conflict and violence in society. Finally, it calls for much-needed research targeting the role of sleep in aggression and social behavior.