Abstract Introduction Women are two times more likely to report sleep difficulties than men, especially trouble falling or staying asleep, which can have significant negative effects on physical and mental health. Research in recent years has indicated that sex hormone fluctuations, particularly low levels of estrogen and progesterone, may be a contributing factor in the sleep difficulties experienced by women. Hormonal contraceptives, which frequently include synthetic variants of estrogen and progesterone, are intended to inhibit ovulation and regulate hormonal cycles but may also impact sleep, with studies showing altered sleep patterns, body temperature, and subjective sleep satisfaction in women who use hormonal contraceptives. This study aims to identify differences in sleep quality and insomnia between women who are naturally cycling and women who use hormonal contraceptives. Methods Data were collected from 590 young adult women (mean age = 30.5) via an online survey posted to Cloud Research Connect, a secure data collection platform. Participants were asked about menstrual health, hormonal and/or non-hormonal contraceptive usage, and sleep habits. Participants were also asked to complete the Insomnia Severity Index and Insomnia Symptom Questionnaire. Results There were no statistically significant differences between the hormonal contraceptive and naturally cycling groups with respect to ISI scores, F(1,5) = 2.44, r = .004, p = .11. A Chi-squares test was used to analyze ISQ scores between groups, there were no statistically significant differences, x² = 0.002, p 0.20. Conclusion Overall, hormonal contraceptive users showed a small, but not statistically significant difference in insomnia scores compared to naturally cycling women. Based on our results, we failed to replicate previous research indicating that hormonal contraceptive use was related to sleep disturbance with respect to insomnia. Support (if any)
Cristando et al. (2026) studied this question.