Sleep Disturbances in Female Military Personnel: A Scoping Review
AI Summary
Female military personnel exhibit greater vulnerability to sleep disturbances than males, with higher risks of insomnia onset, recurrence and physiological dysregulation.
Eleven multilayered risk factors were identified across biological, psychological, socio-environmental and structural domains.
Addressing disturbances requires identifying key risk factors and developing tailored sleep hygiene interventions that incorporate female personnel's unique challenges.
Mil Med. 2026 Nov 13:usag500. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usag500. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Female military personnel may be particularly vulnerable to sleep disturbances because of gender-specific stressors within a male-dominated environment. Despite growing interest in sleep health among military personnel, research trends regarding sleep disturbances in female military personnel have not been comprehensively mapped. This scoping review aimed to examine the characteristics of existing research, sex differences in sleep disturbances, and factors associated with sleep disturbances among female military personnel.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A comprehensive search was performed across 8 databases (EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ScienceON, KNBASE, KISS, and KoreaMed) for peer-reviewed studies published in English or Korean through February 2026. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility, and discrepancies were resolved through discussion. Data were extracted using a predefined data extraction form.
RESULTS: Of the 6,839 records identified, 19 studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Compared with male military personnel, female military personnel showed greater vulnerability to sleep disturbances, including significantly higher risks of insomnia onset, recurrence, and multidimensional physiological dysregulation. In addition, 11 multilayered risk factors were identified, spanning biological, psychological, socio-environmental, and structural domains.
CONCLUSION: Sleep disturbances in female military personnel reflect a complex disruption of sleep homeostasis shaped by gender-specific stressors. Addressing these disturbances requires identification of key risk factors and the development of tailored sleep hygiene interventions that incorporate the unique challenges faced by female military personnel.
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