Abstract: Aims This research has been conducted to investigate the effects of eight weeks of sports exercises in water on sleep disturbance and alexithymia on inactive veterans of Ilam city. Materials & Methods The method of this study was a quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design with control group. The Statistical Population of the research consists of all veterans of the Ilam city from whom a sample of 28 individuals was selected by using available and voluntary sampling method in two experimental groups (14 people) and control (14 people) as samples. The library method was used to collect the background and theoretical foundations of the research and two standard sleep quality questionnaires of Pittsburgh (1989) and Toronto Alexithymia (1994) were used to collect data. For analysing the data, univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance with SPSS-v24 was employed. Findings The results of this study indicated that before the exercise intervention, there were no significant differences in sleep disturbance and alexithymia between the experimental and control groups and the two groups were homogeneous. however, after the exercise intervention, improvements in sleep disturbance and alexithymia were observed in the experimental group compared to the control group (p≤0.05). Thus, sports exercises in water have a significant impact on reducing sleep disturbance and alexithymia in the experimental group. Conclusion Sports exercises in water lead to improvements in sleep disturbance and alexithymia in veterans. Therefore, the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs can utilize this intervention method to enhance sleep disturbance and alexithymia among veterans. Keywords
