Anticipated and Experienced Ethnic/Racial Discrimination and Sleep: A Longitudinal Study (original) (raw)

Pathways linking racial/ethnic discrimination and sleep among U.S.-born and foreign-born Latinxs

Journal of behavioral medicine, 2017

This study examined the association between racial/ethnic discrimination and sleep through psychological distress and body mass index (BMI), and determined whether the aforementioned associations vary between U.S. and foreign-born Latinxs. Participants were 1332 Latinx adults enrolled in the Texas City Stress and Health Study. Multistage sampling methods were used to select participants. A model linking racial/ethnic discrimination with sleep disturbances through direct and indirect (i.e., psychological distress and BMI) paths demonstrated good fit. Greater racial/ethnic discrimination was associated with greater psychological distress and higher BMI. Psychological distress and BMI were also significant predictors of sleep disturbances. The indirect path from racial/ethnic discrimination to sleep disturbances via psychological distress was significant. A model with parameters constrained to be equal between U.S.-born and foreign-born Latinxs suggested associations were comparable be...

Linking ethnic/racial discrimination to adolescent mental health: Sleep disturbances as an explanatory pathway

Child Development, 2022

Ethnic/racial discrimination is associated with negative psychosocial outcomes, and this study considered sleep disturbance as a mediating pathway. Employing a combination of daily diary and biannual surveys, multilevel structural equation models estimated the indirect effects of sleep/wake concerns on negative, anxious, and positive mood, rumination, and somatic symptoms. In a sample of 350 urban Asian (74% Chinese, 8% Korean, 4% Indian, 1% Filipinx, 1% Vietnamese, and 12% other), Black, and Latinx (25% Dominican, 24% South American, 22% Mexican, 15% Puerto Rican, 5% Central American, and 9% other) youth (M = 14.27 years, 69% female, 77% U.S. born, 76% monoethnic/racial, data collected from 2015 to 2018), there was evidence for sleep disturbances mediating the impact of ethnic/ racial discrimination on adjustment. Nighttime disturbance, daytime dysfunction, and daytime sleepiness evidenced partial or full mediation for daily-and personlevel outcomes (υ = 0.1%-17.9%). Reciprocal associations between sleep disturbances and negative mood and rumination were also observed.

Associations Between Everyday Discrimination and Sleep: Tests of Moderation by Ethnicity and Sense of Purpose

Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2021

Background Everyday discrimination holds pernicious effects across most aspects of health, including a pronounced stress response. However, work is needed on when discrimination predicts sleep outcomes, with respect to potential moderators of these associations. Purpose The current study sought to advance the past literature by examining the associations between everyday discrimination and sleep outcomes in an ethnically diverse sample, allowing tests of moderation by ethnic group. We also examined the role of sense of purpose, a potential resilience factor, as another moderator. Methods Participants in the Hawaii Longitudinal Study of Personality and Health (n = 758; 52.8% female; mage: 60 years, sd = 2.03) completed assessments for everyday discrimination, sleep duration, daytime dysfunction due to sleep, sleep quality, and sense of purpose. Results In the full sample, everyday discrimination was negatively associated with sleep duration, sleep quality, and sense of purpose, while...

Racial Disparities in Sleep: Associations With Discrimination Among Ethnic/Racial Minority Adolescents

Child Development, 2019

This study investigates the same-day associations between discrimination and sleep among 350 adolescents ages 13-15 (M = 14.29, SD = 0.65; Asian = 41%, Black = 22%, Latinx = 37%). Assessing sleep duration, sleep onset latency, and wake minutes after sleep onset using wrist actigraphy, Black adolescents slept 35 min less than Asian and 36 min less than Latinx youth. Black adolescents suffered the most wake minutes after sleep onset, followed by Latinx and Asian youth. Latinx youth reported the highest levels of sleep disturbance, whereas Asian youth reported the highest levels of daytime dysfunction. Daily discrimination was associated with lower levels of same-night sleep onset latency, more sleep disturbance, more next-day daytime dysfunction, and higher next-day daytime sleepiness.

Perceived racial discrimination as an independent predictor of sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue

Behavioral sleep medicine, 2012

Perceived discrimination is a potential cause of racial and ethnic disparities in health. Disturbed sleep may serve as a mechanism linking perceived racism with health consequences. This study investigates data from 7,148 adults from Michigan and Wisconsin who participated in the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses explored associations between perceived racial discrimination and self-reported sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue. Sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue were reported in 19% and 21% of the sample, respectively. Black/African American respondents (21%) report perceiving worse experiences, compared to people of other races, when seeking health care at higher rates than non-Hispanic White respondents (3%). Results from logistic regression models show that perceived racial discrimination is associated with increased risks of sleep disturbance (odds ratio [OR] = 2.62, p < .0001) and daytime fatigue (OR = 2.07, p < .0001). After adjustment for all covariates, perceived discrimination remains a significant predictor of sleep disturbance (OR = 1.60, p = .04). The interaction between perceived racism and race (Black/African American vs. non-Hispanic White) was nonsignificant. This population-based research adds to the growing body of data, suggesting that perceived racism may impact health via its influence on sleep-wake behaviors.

Perceived discrimination and youths' adjustment: sleep as a moderator

Journal of sleep research, 2016

Adolescents' sleep duration was examined as a moderator of the association between perceived discrimination and internalizing (anxiety, depression) and externalizing symptoms. Participants were 252 adolescents (mean: 15.79 years; 66% European American, 34% African American) who reported on their perceived discrimination (racial and general) and adjustment. Sleep duration was measured using actigraphy. Moderation effects were evident. The lowest levels of internalizing symptoms were observed for adolescents with longer sleep duration in conjunction with lower levels of perceived racial discrimination. Further, general perceived discrimination was associated more strongly with externalizing behaviours for youth with shorter versus longer sleep. Findings highlight the importance of sleep as a bioregulatory system that can ameliorate or exacerbate the effects of discrimination on youths' adjustment.

Intergenerational Effects of Discrimination on Black American Children’s Sleep Health

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022

Greater exposure to racial/ethnic discrimination among pregnant Black American women is associated with elevated prenatal depressive symptomatology, poorer prenatal sleep quality, and poorer child health outcomes. Given the transdiagnostic importance of early childhood sleep health, we examined associations between pregnant women’s lifetime exposure to racial/ethnic discrimination and their two-year-old children’s sleep health. We also examined women’s gendered racial stress as a predictor variable. In exploratory analyses, we examined prenatal sleep quality and prenatal depressive symptoms as potential mediators of the prior associations. We utilized data from a sample of Black American women and children (n = 205). Women self-reported their lifetime experiences of discrimination during early pregnancy, their sleep quality and depressive symptoms during mid-pregnancy, and their children’s sleep health at age two. Hierarchical linear multiple regression models were fit to examine di...

Sleep Facilitates Coping: Moderated Mediation of Daily Sleep, Ethnic/Racial Discrimination, Stress Responses, and Adolescent Well‐Being

Child Development, 2019

Using a daily diary design and actigraphy sleep data across 2 weeks among 256 ethnic/racial minority adolescents (M age = 14.72; 40% Asian, 22% Black, 38% Latinx; 2,607 days), this study investigated how previousnight sleep (duration, quality) moderated the same-day associations between ethnic/racial discrimination and stress responses (rumination, problem solving, family/peer support seeking) to predict daily well-being (mood, somatic symptoms, life satisfaction). On days when adolescents experienced greater discrimination, if they slept longer and better the previous night, adolescents engaged in greater active coping (problem solving, peer support seeking), and subsequently had better well-being. Adolescents also ruminated less when they slept longer the previous night regardless of discrimination. Findings highlight the role of sleep in helping adolescents navigate discrimination by facilitating coping processes.

Sleep disturbance mediates the relationship between perceived racism and depressive symptoms

Ethnicity & disease, 2006

To examine the effects of racism on sleep disturbance and depression and to examine whether sleep disturbance mediates the effects of racism on depression. Cross-sectional questionnaire study. Community. 168 Hispanic-American immigrants, 45% female, average age 33 years, average length of time living in the United States was 5 years. The Perceived Racism Scale for Latinos, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) Scale. Using hierarchical linear regression analyses, perceived racism was related to increased sleep disturbance (b=.21, P<.01) and higher levels of depressive symptoms (b=.24, P<.01). When sleep disturbance was included in the regression equation, perceived racism was no longer a significant predictor of depressive symptoms (b=.10, nonsignificant), indicating that sleep disturbance mediated the relationship between perceived racism and depressive symptoms. This study adds to the research literature by identifyin...

Racial differences in sleep architecture: The role of ethnic discrimination

Biological Psychology, 2012

African Americans have been consistently shown to have less deep (slow wave sleep; SWS) and more light (Stages 1 and 2) sleep than Caucasian Americans. This paper explored whether discrimination, a stressor that uniquely impacts certain ethnic groups, contributes to differences in sleep architecture. The sleep of 164 African and Caucasian Americans was examined with laboratory based polysomnography (PSG). Experiences of perceived discrimination (The Scale of Ethnic Experience) and sociodemographic factors were also assessed. After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), socioeconomic status (SES) and smoking status, African Americans slept approximately 4.5% more total sleep time (TST) in Stage 2 sleep and 4.7% less TST in SWS than Caucasian Americans (ps< .05). Perceived discrimination was a partial mediator of ethnic differences in sleep architecture. Individuals who reported experiencing more discrimination slept more time in Stage 2 and less time in SWS (ps< .05). Results suggest that the impact of stress related to ethnic group membership plays a part in explaining differences in sleep architecture.