It has been estimated that approximately 1 in 4 women (1 in 26 men) report a lifetime history of Sexual Assault Trauma (SAT) and 4 in 5 women who have been victims of SAT report that they were assaulted before the age of 25. Research shows a high rate of behavioral sleep problems including Posttrauma Nightmares (PTN) and Insomnia (INS) following SAT. However, less is known about the timing of sleep disturbance onset following SVT and whether early onset of sleep symptoms predict later Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms (PTSD). In order to examine we collected data from 137 emerging adult women college students from a large Midwest public university who reported a history of SAT (Life Event Checklist: LEC), current PTSD symptomatology (PTSD Checklist for the DSM-5: PCL), insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index: ISI) and nightmare symptoms (Nightmare Distress Index: NDI). Current symptomatology was as follows: ISI total (M=10.81, SD=6.04), NDI total (M=7.46, SD 4.94), PCL (50.76, SD=16.76). In a smaller sample (N=75), we asked about sleep quality in the week following SAT. In the week following SAT, 84% reported that either insomnia symptoms or PTN symptoms (or both) had begun or gotten worse. We then asked about insomnia and PTN symptom severity during that week (1-5 Likert Scale). Controlling for time since SAT, PTN symptom severity (b=3.68, t=2.39, p=.02) and Insomnia symptom severity (b=3.43, t=2.85, p<.05) predicted current PCL scores (with the nightmare item removed from the total). These data indicate that behavioral sleep problems may begin to present early following SAT and that early behavioral sleep disruption may predict later PTSD symptomatology. These are cross-sectional data that are potentially limited by retrospective recall bias. As such, these data point to a clear need for prospective longitudinal research investigating the role of behavioral sleep problems in the perpetuation of PTSD symptomatology.